A/N: God bless my editor for helping me with this. I cannot tell you how long I agonized over it.
Chapter Fifty-One: Teammates
Sasuke crept through the dark tunnels, slipping easily from shadow to shadow like it was something he did every day. With his occupation, he did, in a sense. He was almost there, he was so close to his destination, and so far, everything had been going well. He monitored the area for chakra signatures, but there weren't any close enough to him; he was alone at the moment, Naruto and Sakura's signatures slipping out of range a while ago. They had stayed behind to guard the entrance to this inner chamber of the Waterfall Feudal Lord's mansion to increase their chances of completing the mission.
It had been about four months since Sasuke had passed the Chuunin Exam, and he had gone on numerous missions with Naruto and Sakura, and sometimes even Kakashi. However, he still needed a few hours to completely negate his sentence for betraying Konoha, and that was why he was endeavoring so hard on this mission. He had been promised that whatever number of hours it took him and the team to complete this mission, twice that amount would be taken off his sentence, because this mission was so important. It was also the first A-ranked mission he'd ever been sent on as a chuunin.
He was attached to the ceiling at the moment, to avoid being spotted (even though there was nobody nearby) and to avoid any unexpected traps. The map Sakura had showed to him was etched into his mind as he crawled along the ceilings; he was getting closer to the inner antechamber of the palace that was his goal.
Landing nimbly down outside the door, he pushed it open slowly, checking for traps, but encountering none. For such a priceless relic, its wards were getting poorer and poorer the closer he got to it. If anything, Naruto and Sakura were handling the most difficult part, and he should hurry so he could return and help them.
Slipping into the room, he looked around at the countless weapons amassed there. The antechamber, Sakura had said, was currently a weapons' storage, and the Feudal Lord had a vast collection. The weapon Sasuke was looking for was one that was stolen from the Fire Country's Feudal Lord, and was extremely valuable and dangerous. Sasuke spotted a thick scroll lying on a table that was probably the index of all the weapons in the room. Stealing across the floor to where it was, Sasuke unfurled it and scanned the writing quickly. The weapon Sasuke was looking for was a recent acquisition, and it was written towards the top of the list, making it quick to find, and after reading the location in the antechamber, he hurried quickly to retrieve it.
It was as he was crossing the floor to an alcove off the main room that the lights suddenly went out without warning. Instantly he activated his senses and frowned. There had been no chakra in the lights, so why had they suddenly extinguished with no outward assistance? There was no breeze, and nobody nearby. He didn't think that he'd activated a trap, because nothing further attacked him. He got the distinct feeling something was off.
After standing in the dark for a moment, in which nothing further happened, he decided to take his chances and keep going. The dark wasn't a problem for him anyways, and Naruto and Sakura could only keep the entrance guarded for so long before reinforcements came. He was wasting time at the moment. Using only his senses, he picked his way easily across the room and towards the alcove without difficulty.
A frown passed over the red-painted lips of a dark haired woman, her beautiful features blemished by the frown her dark eyebrows were making. She was sitting at a table with two people sitting on either side of her. The five of them had their hands linked in a row, and a connection of chakra from the beautiful woman linked them. Sitting on her left were two men, sitting on her right, was a man and woman. The closest man on her right opened his eyes and looked at her.
"What's wrong?"
"He sensed something off," the ruby-lipped woman replied, "And is maneuvering using some technique I've never seen."
"Are you sure? I thought the parameters were infallible," came a gruff voice from the larger of the two men on her left.
"They are; this is an ability he has in his inventory, or the parameters would not allow it, even if he realized he was caught," she replied, "This is the first time that this has happened. He doesn't know he's caught, but it's the first time a subject has noticed something wrong."
"Keep holding him still, do not let him go; we shall see the outcome," came the voice of the other woman, "His teammates?"
"They will be brought before him shortly," the first woman replied.
"Good, carry on," instructed the gruff-voiced man.
Sasuke worked his lock-picking tools quickly in the dark, and soon the cabinet that held the weapon was open. Inside lay an oddly crafted knife—it had two separate blades, which made it look like an oversized fork. It also looked like it was useless for any practical use. However, Sasuke could sense the massive amount of chakra within it the instant his hand touched it; there was no doubt that this was the weapon he sought. He quickly snatched it out of its container and locked it once again—to confuse his enemies further. He didn't know why this weapon was so important, but it must be if they were going to send a team into a heavily fortified castle to retrieve it.
He hurried out of the room again and back down the halls he came. But the further he went the more wary he became. The clamor had calmed down, and Naruto and Sakura's signatures were not moving. A frown passed over his face as he observed two additional signatures present with his teammates, and judging by how close in proximity they were to each other, he knew there was something amiss. He stopped a hundred meters from the room—the outer antechamber he remembered—and pondered the situation. Taking to the ceiling he crept along the ornate decorations and lanterns until her at last reached the door.
Again, a frown passed over the woman's face, "He knows we have them. He knows he's coming up to something."
"How? We can all see him, but only you know when he brushes the parameters. How does he know?" asked the gruff voice.
"I don't know."
"Continue, we have to let this pass, no matter if he senses something off. We will hold him. Nobody has ever broken past the parameters—things should work out just fine."
Sasuke positioned himself on the wall around the doorframe like a gecko and slowly peered in through the open doorway. The two guards held knives to Naruto and Sakura's throats; and the pressure was evident. With his senses—which he still hadn't deactivated—he could see blood beading at the edge. Naruto's face was angry and frustrated, while Sakura's was serious and ashen. How had they been captured? As he was deciding how he should deal with this situation, one of the guards called out to him.
"We know you're there! Reveal yourself!"
Sasuke hesitated; he had been silent, even to his own ears—how could they know? He tried to get a better vantage point.
"Come out, I said!"
"He's not there," Naruto said, irritated, "Sasuke's better than that."
"Shut up you," snapped the second guard, "He's there… I know he's watching us right now…"
The guard's eyes pupils were invisible to him, but like when he was blind, he could tell when he was being watched. He knew that the man's eyes were resting on his position, even if he couldn't see him. Sasuke didn't know what to do now—somehow he'd been found out.
"Come out now, or we'll kill the loudmouthed one!" shouted the first guard.
"Hey!"
Sasuke opened his eyes then, deactivating his senses; inwardly he scowled as he dropped down, "I commend you for sensing me, though I must admit, I don't know how you did it."
"That's not for you to know," the same guard snapped darkly, "You have something that belongs to the Feudal Lord, and if you do not return it to us, we will kill your teammates."
"Don't listen to them, Sasuke," Sakura said instantly, "The mission must be completed! They were counting on us! Their defenses were mostly taken out before we were captured, if you leave us, you'll definitely be able to complete the mission!"
"Quiet, bitch!" the second guard snapped, before turning to Sasuke, "Move one foot forwards and we'll slit their throats."
"Teme, don't listen to them! Sakura-chan and I worked so hard to get the way clear for you, so you'd better not let that go to waste! We knew we'd get caught, but we hoped we'd at least be able to make it so you could go!" the guard tried to cover Naruto's mouth at this point, but Naruto bit into his hand hard and continued like nothing had happened as the guard nursed his hand, "If you don't go, teme, I'll never forgive you, even in the afterlife! Now go before more of those bastards come!"
"They're just going to kill us all anyways, if you hand it over!" Sakura yelled pleadingly, "If you go, at least something will be accomplished."
"Are you really going to let your teammates die?" the first guard sneered, "If you give us the weapon, we'll let you all go. We'll escort you off the property and all of you will be left unharmed. Granted you cooperate."
Sasuke didn't move for a second, he was sensing and thinking. He weighed his options carefully—he couldn't sense anyone's chakra signatures nearby, which in itself was odd, but a good thing. It would only last so long—but there was no way in any level of hell that he would let Naruto and Sakura die. The bargain for their lives was an obvious lie, but it upped his chances.
"Do you promise that they will be left unharmed?" Sasuke asked warily.
"Sasuke!"
"Teme!"
"Yes, I swear," the first guard replied over the cries of protest coming from their hostages.
"I'm getting the weapon out," Sasuke said in a careful voice while removing his backpack slowly off his back.
He slowly unzipped it and reached inside, keeping his eyes on the guards while they watched him with equal wariness. Sasuke's hand brushed the hilt of the weapon, and he felt the chakra in it, but only for that brief instant he brushed it. Not removing his eyes from the guards, he grabbed two throwing needles deeper in.
"I'm removing the weapon," he said withdrawing his hand slowly.
Just before his hand passed the lip of the backpack, he suddenly moved with his infamous speed, flicking his wrist precisely, charging the needles with chidori. A split second later, both guards fell away from Sakura and Naruto, a throwing needle each between their eyes, embedded deeply.
Naruto blew a long whistle, "For a moment I thought you'd actually give it up."
"Sasuke, why didn't you do as we said?" Sakura asked, throwing her arms around him in relief.
"You think that I would let you guys die for an impractical knife?" Sasuke asked raising his eyebrows at her.
"…No, but…" Sakura started.
"I'm glad you know that," Sasuke said pointedly, and Sakura looked a little guilty.
"I…I… Thank you," Sakura said, tears springing up in her eyes.
"There, that's it, isn't it?" said the voice of the second woman present.
"No, it's not," argued the first with another frown.
"Don't frown so much, you'll get wrinkles on your beautiful face," said the younger of the two men next to her.
"Why ever not?" asked the second woman, ignoring the comment.
"Because he never relinquished the weapon," said the gruff voice, "He must either sacrifice his friends or relinquish the weapon. He did neither."
"We need to force him to give it up, or he must lose his friends," clarified the ruby-lipped woman, "As it is now, we have gotten nowhere."
"We need something more drastic," said the gruff-voiced man.
"Is that wise?" asked the younger man.
"I'll send someone stronger; something that'll force him to make a choice," said the ruby-lipped woman.
"Be careful," warned the voice of the third man who had not yet spoken, "He sensed something off again, didn't he?"
A pause, "I'll be careful."
Sasuke let go of Sakura, and smirked at Naruto in a pleased manner. Things had turned out exactly how he planned. Still nobody was headed their direction though, and again he felt like something was not quite right. But both Sakura and Naruto were alive and they still had the knife. They needed to leave while there was still that opening they had created.
"We need to hurry," Sasuke said, looking at the far door across the room, "We're still clear, but only for so long."
"Who made you team leader, teme?" Naruto complained jokingly, but they started off at a light jog across the room.
They had barely gone anywhere though, when a voice from behind called them to a halt, "This is as far as you go."
Sasuke froze, for more reasons than one. One reason was that there were no chakra signatures in the area, yet, there was someone behind them. The more startling of the two reasons was that he recognized that voice, all too well.
The room of five broke into a clamor.
"You call that careful?" exclaimed the third man.
"I didn't mean for it to happen! Something's wrong," said the ruby-lipped woman, looking panicked, "I can't control the scenario anymore."
"What?" demanded the voice of the second man, "What does that mean?"
"Whether he realizes it or not, Uchiha Sasuke has just gained control," replied the woman.
"Well, what does that mean?" asked the second woman.
"Two things: that there is very little I can do to regain control, and that Uchiha Sasuke is a lot stronger than any of us initially realized."
Sasuke didn't need to see the look of shock on Sakura's face nor the look of anger on Naruto's to know who it was. He whirled around slowly, for once in a long while feeling anxious instead of thrilled upon facing this person. He looked into the red eyes evenly.
"You."
Itachi blinked slowly, "Hand over the weapon, Sasuke, or I will kill your friends."
"Get out of here," he told Naruto and Sakura, "Take the weapon and go."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that," Itachi's eyes flickered to Sakura and instinctively Sasuke stepped between her and his brother, shielding her from him.
Sasuke was thinking hard. There were so many things wrong with this. The intel said that the premises did not have doings with Akatsuki, nor had there been reports of Akatsuki activity in the area. The weapon, while valuable, did not seem to be something Akatsuki would be interested in, and then there was the matter of the still missing guards. But the biggest factor of all was that even though Sasuke could see Itachi, hear Itachi, his brother was lacking a chakra signature. By all rights, Itachi shouldn't be there in front of him. Even Bunshin had a small amount of chakra, so there was no way that Itachi wouldn't have a signature if he were there.
Unless he wasn't actually there.
What if it was a genjutsu? It was a pretty poor one if it was, as they had made a very obvious seam.
"Standing in front of her won't keep me from killing her," Itachi said coolly, "She'll be the first to die if you don't hand over the weapon."
"You won't kill her," Sasuke said quietly, "You can't kill her. Not simply because I won't let you, but because you're not real."
Naruto's voice came in anxiously, "Teme…?"
"Sasuke, what…?" Sakura's voice also was concerned.
Itachi narrowed his eyes.
"You're not here. You're not real. This is a genjutsu," Sasuke breathed, his heart racing, hoping he was right—it was the only explanation, "Kai."
"Sasuke, what are you trying to do?" Sakura asked, alarmed.
But Sasuke didn't listen, "Kai!"
"Teme—"
"KAI!" Sasuke roared and he felt his chakra surge around him, cleaning the chakra network in him.
Itachi started to fade, and then slowly, everything else followed. The world around him melted away into blackness, the blackness behind his own eyelids. He was lying on a cold floor, he could feel, his eyes closed. All was silent for a moment.
There were five signatures in the room with him, and at least two-dozen nearby. 'Enemies,' he thought wildly.
Leaping to his feet from his position on the ground (a great feat for anyone), he activated his senses reflexively and took a fighting stance, raising a fist to protect his face and one to protect his kidneys. But no attacks came; there was no movement. All he saw before him was five open mouths. In front of him, all holding hands, sat—from left to right—Anko, Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai, Morino Ibiki, and the third proctor, Genma.
"He broke out of it," Anko breathed.
"That isn't supposed to be possible," said Genma, his toothpick falling from his mouth.
Yuuhi Kurenai seemed to be the first to recover, as she dropped the hands of the people next to her, and slowly started clapping. Soon, the rest of the table joined in. Sasuke, utterly bewildered, extinguished his senses and opened his eyes.
"What's going on?" he asked, but already pieces were beginning to fall into place.
"Congratulations, Uchiha. I suppose we should have expected no less from you," Morino Ibiki said, looking impressed—coming from Morino, that was saying something.
"You look confused, Uchiha," Anko said smiling.
"I have no idea what's going on—why am I in Konoha? No, don't answer that. It's obvious I never left, but why was a genjutsu placed on me here?" he asked, relaxing his stance slightly.
"The interview part of the exam is non-existant," Morino said gruffly, "Every now and again we will drag out this method of separating those who pass from those who fail."
"The door has a lacing of chakra that doesn't activate until someone passes through it, making it impossible to detect until you're already caught in the genjutsu it activates. Nobody as of yet has ever realized they're in a genjutsu," Yuuhi Kurenai started, closing her eyes, "It is a complex genjutsu that uses a person's own knowledge to create a scenario that is manipulated by the caster to affect what the victim perceives as true. The objective of my genjutsu is to use the scenario to create a moral dilemma. To choose your teammates or the mission you thought you were on."
"When we link our hands together, we are all able to see the genjutsu, and we can judge whether you pass or fail the test based on your choice," Anko threw in, "But Kurenai is the only one who can affect it."
"But because you had abilities beyond what we'd anticipated, one of which I still don't know what it is, you brushed the parameters of the genjutsu multiple times and did what was not supposed to happen—save both the item and the hostages," Kurenai said, opening her crimson eyes again, sounding impressed, "When I tried to recreate a similar scenario, but instead using one of your deepest fears from your own mind, I inadvertently gave you control over the situation. When you pulled Uchiha Itachi from the darkest corners of your mind, it created a paradox in the genjutsu. You realized what was going on, and then, amazingly, broke out."
Sasuke said nothing to this. He was still sorting out his thoughts. He was having a little difficulty accepting that months hadn't passed, but he was relieved that he wasn't losing his sanity and seeing people without chakra signatures. It meant that Naruto and Sakura were still safe, and that Itachi was nowhere near. But he didn't like the fact that now the five people in front of him knew that one of his deepest fears was Itachi. He didn't like the fact that he now knew Itachi was someone he feared. He wanted to deny fearing his brother, but if this genjutsu wasn't proof of that… He clenched his jaw a little.
"What you did was supposed to be impossible," Sarutobi Asuma said, "Kurenai developed this technique on her own, and has never taught it to anyone. Not to mention that she's our best genjutsu user—and you bested her."
"There's still one issue left here," said Morino gruffly, "You never answered the moral dilemma—you never chose between the weapon and your team."
Sasuke gave a twisted smile at Morino, "I may have saved both, but didn't you notice, Proctor?"
There were a number of curious looks then.
"Never once did I put my team in a situation where they would have died if I had failed to save both them and the mission," Sasuke said, knowing it was the truth, and knowing it was what they had been looking for.
There was an exchange of glances, and then Morino Ibiki rose from the table, "Congratulations, Uchiha. You pass."
It was as Sasuke exited the building at the Academy that he sensed Sakura's chakra signature heading towards him, Naruto in tow. There was only one thing remarkable about this, and that was that Sakura's chakra signature was completely normal. It no longer flickered with an underlying melancholy, and it actually seemed on the cheerful side. Considering that chakra signatures only reflected on the overall mood, this change was as drastic as when she first fell into depression.
And if Sakura's overall mood could be call uplifted significantly, it was nothing compared to her outward mood, as Sasuke soon saw, as she came within sight. Upon seeing him, she raced forwards, a wide smile on her face. She threw her arms around him like she had in the genjutsu, joy bubbling off her.
"Sasuke! You're finished early!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly, "We weren't expecting you so soon. How'd it go?"
"I passed," he stated triumphantly, "I'll be starting the next part of the exam the day after tomorrow. But I doubt that is why you embraced me on sight."
She laughed then, and he was stunned at how genuine it sounded. She was laughing like she had nothing wrong in her life, like her sorrow had been completely erased. How long had it been since he heard her true laughter, laughter untinged with sorrow?
"No, you're right," she said, her eyes sparkling, "They found my father!"
Sasuke was stunned then, and felt genuine surprise take him. He wasn't sure what to say if anything. Slowly, and uncertainly, he put a supportive arm around her, and looked at Naruto. The fox-faced boy gave him a smile, but something looked strained about it. Naruto, while fine on the whole, had something eating at him. He didn't seem happy about the return of Sakura's father—though Sasuke had always gotten the impression that they got along better than he did with Sakura's father.
"What's the matter with you, dobe?" he asked, sounding cocky but a little concerned, and curious at the same time.
"What? I can't give a friendly smile to people, teme?" Naruto replied with a mock retort. He didn't want to voice what was on his mind, evidently.
"Not if it looks like that," Sasuke replied, "It would make children cry."
"Teme, you make children cry without even trying," Naruto countered and Sakura laughed.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke," she said putting at hand over her mouth when he looked at her with raised eyebrows, "But it's true."
Sasuke scowled—she was right. About a month ago, he had been at the grocery store with Sakura, and while he was examining a fresh stock of tomatoes, he had felt something, or rather, someone run into his leg. He had sensed the signature coming, but he didn't think that whoever had hit him would actually collide with him. Looking down he had discovered a young girl, probably no older than six, rubbing her head. When he had asked her if she was all right, her eyes had filled with tears and she ran away crying. Then he heard laughter behind him and found it came from Sakura, who had witnessed the whole thing.
"Seriously?" Naruto asked, taking a turn in laughing.
"I forbid you to ask," Sasuke said, glaring at the blond.
"Well, I guess that's just sworn me to secrecy then," Sakura said, still smiling, "Anyways, now that you're done, what happens now?"
"I vote lunch!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.
"Fine, and then Sasuke can tell us how the test went," Sakura agreed.
"What about your father? Do you want to go see him?" Sasuke asked.
"We already did. He's at the hospital right now, they'll probably discharge him in a couple days," Sakura replied, "Why, did you want to see him?"
Sasuke shook his head, "Not particularly."
"Save talking for later! I'm hungry!" Naruto complained, and then grabbing Sakura's hand, towed her away. Because her other arm was wrapped around Sasuke, he was pulled forwards too. And it was in that procession that the three of them left as a team, together.
Kakashi had a bad feeling as he looked at the sheet of paper that held the names of the two people who would be Sasuke's teammates for the Forest of Death part of the exam. Frowning deeply, he folded it up again and stuck it into pocket of his vest. He knew that Tsunade was in a tough spot when she would break the rules of the Chuunin Exam at the will of the council. She didn't usually listen to the council, but this time, it seemed, they had left her little choice.
The one teammate was alright, some kunoichi by the name of Nii Yugito from Kumogakure. But the other one had him worried. He was a young man in Konoha's ANBU, who went by the name of Sai for this mission. What his real name was, Kakashi doubted anyone knew—he had been in ANBU from a very young age. While Kakashi had no dealings with Sai, he had known of him, and was very surprised to see the picture of the pale, handsome man on the sheets for Sasuke's team. He recalled expressing surprise and concern to the Hokage, but she shook her head.
"The Councilors and Danzo want him on the team, to keep an eye on Sasuke. I don't like it either, but it's the only way that they'll let Sasuke in the Exam," Tsunade said, turning her chair and looking darkly out the window in the general direction of the Academy, the sun rising behind it, "…I don't get it…I don't know what they have against Sasuke—they've been on his case since he got here. And while I agree he has to be punished for what he did, I think he's been taught a hard lesson by his own mistakes."
Kakashi said nothing, but stood silently, holding the papers with concern.
"But despite that, it's like they're expecting he'll pull something like Itachi did," Tsunade mumbled, pouring herself some sake, "Like they think they know something about him that I don't. They don't trust him."
"What about you, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked, folding the papers reluctantly.
"I think things will go fine despite Danzo and the councilors spying on him—unlike them, I trust him. And I don't think he'll cause any problems, which seems to be what they're expecting," Tsunade said with a wry smile, "Anyways, please go give those sheets to him. He needs to meet his team before Part Two of the Exam."
"You think he passed?"
"The final stage of the written exam is a moral question—Sasuke knows the answer better than anyone," Tsunade replied looking at Kakashi, "After all, he had the answer handed to him first hand."
Kakashi nodded.
It was noon now, and Kakashi knew that he would be able to find his team at Ichiraku's, because like Tsunade, he knew that Sasuke had passed, and no doubt, Naruto and Sakura would want to celebrate. All that was left was for Sasuke to meet his Exam teammates.
It was mid-afternoon when Sasuke went to meet his new team. Kakashi had come and found him with Sakura and Naruto at lunchtime, telling him that a team had been found for him and that they would both meet him at the village entrance at three o'clock. And then the jounin had left as quickly as he had arrived. He hadn't even mentioned the names of his two new team members nor where they were from.
It was as he was on his way to meeting the new team members, that Sasuke felt the huge signature for the second time that day. He stopped in his tracks, frustrated—he wanted to find out the owner of that signature, and if he lost it now, he might not be able to find it again. But if he followed it now, he'd be late meeting his teammates, which probably wouldn't leave a good impression. He weighed his options; the signature was in the direction he was headed anyways… He sprinted off, leaping to the rooftops—he didn't want to miss them.
A few minutes later, he realized that the signature was near the village entrance, and the closer he got, he realized he wouldn't be late if the person who had the huge chakra signature was in the vicinity anyways. He leapt down and jogged up the path—the signature was unmoving. Halting in the middle of the street, he looked around at the different people. There weren't that many people in this area, but there were enough for him to need to look for his teammates.
The owner of the signature, on the other hand, was an easy find. She was a kunoichi, about a foot shorter than him, and had long dirty-blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. A hand was on her hip and she was wearing an irritated expression on her face as she looked at the person standing next to her. A Kumogakure headband decorated her forehead, but Sasuke couldn't see this until he used senses.
The person standing next to her, however, was not wearing a Kumogakure headband—he was wearing a Konohagakure headband over his forehead. His chakra signature was strange to him—it was the same man he had seen Ino with at the Festival. The same lack of emotion in his chakra signature was unmistakable. He had short dark hair matched inky black eyes and he was wearing one of the most ridiculous shirts Sasuke had ever seen—which was saying something, because he had had to wear Orochimaru's awful Otogakure garb. A backpack was slung over this guy's shoulder and a short sword, was strapped to his back. A very fakey smile decorated his face.
It was then that the woman with the tremendous chakra signature caught sight of him. "Are you Uchiha Sasuke?" she called, and then waved him over.
He blinked, and then slowly approached the pair, "Yes…"
"Hi," the woman said with an 'I don't care' attitude, "My name is Nii Yugito, and I'm going to be on your team for the rest of the Chuunin Exam."
She gave a small curt bow, and Sasuke was a little bit surprised. He hadn't expected that the person who he had sensed in Kumogakure and in the exam room was the very person he'd be teamed up with during the Forest of Death. 'Nii', huh…? That would explain why she hadn't been called in before him during the 'interviews'.
He gave her an acknowledging nod and she observed him with mild interest, "This is my first time meeting an Uchiha."
It was when she said this that Sasuke noticed that her eyes were a strange yellow green colour, and that her pupils were slit, like a cat's. Sasuke puzzled over this fact, but said nothing about it. He then turned to the other person present, who was still smiling that very forced smile.
"My name is Sai," he said with a very formal tone, "I, too, will be on your team for the rest of the Chuunin Exam. Please honor me with your friendship."
The young man gave a low bow, and Sasuke thought that the man looked too pale to be in good health. He was almost as pale as Orochimaru, and that was hard to do. Furthermore, it was amazing how pale he was, considering that his outfit exposed so much of his skin to the sun. Again, Sasuke gave an acknowledging nod when he straightened up.
"So, what now?" the girl with the green eyes asked, bringing introductions to an abrupt end.
"We don't know each other at all, so it would probably be best if we learned of each other's techniques so we can know better how each person will react when faced with a challenge in the forest," Sasuke said, crossing his arms, perfectly fine with formalities brushed out of the way.
"Sounds fine," Nii Yugito said, crossing her arms, "I have to say that even though I'm probably the same age as you guys, I've never taken the exam before."
Sasuke didn't react to this, but was a little surprised, "It's my second time."
"What kinds of techniques do Uchiha-san and Nii-san use?" Sai asked, looking at the two of them.
Sasuke saw the girl's face grow irritated before she responded sharply, "Don't call me Nii-san. I'm not your older brother."
"Ah, I'm terribly sorry," Sai said, bowing low, "What should I call you?"
"Yugito's fine. If you want you can put an honorific suffix on, but I really don't care," she replied, narrowing her slit-pupilled eyes at him, "Anyways. I'm fairly light and speedy, but I can cave someone's teeth in if I need to. I use fire ninjutsu and some dark-element ninjutsu too. I don't have any genjutsu skills at all, but I'm pretty good at taijutsu. My favoured weapons are standard kunai and shuriken."
"I use fire and lightning ninjutsu—though I am able to use some of the other elements as well," Sasuke replied to Sai's question, "I'm mediocre at genjutsu, and good at taijutsu. I rely on speed rather than strength. Favoured weapons are kunai, shuriken, and katana."
"Ah, is that right?" Sai asked, putting on his fake smile—each time he did that, Sasuke felt his dislike for him grow. Sasuke couldn't smile either, he knew, but he at least didn't fake it, "I use water-based ninjutsu and use my ink and brush to create creatures that will do my bidding. I, like Uchiha-san, also rely on speed rather than strength, and I cannot use genjutsu. My taijutsu is at acceptable level, and my weapon of choice is my short sword."
"So we all use speed, and we all use taijutsu well," Sasuke said, summing things up, "Only I can use genjutsu, only Sai can use water, and only Nii can use dark elements."
"Dark elements are dangerous though, so I don't like using them if I can help it," Nii Yugito said quickly, giving him a guarded look, "Call me Yugito, Uchiha."
Sasuke paused and then said to her, "Alright. Call me Sasuke."
"Who will be our team Leader?" Sai asked suddenly, "I think it should be Sasuke-san."
"I didn't say you could call me Sasuke," the said Uchiha shot at the phony-smiling boy, "And why me?"
"No, I agree with Sai," Yugito said slowly, like she was thinking it over carefully, "You've taken the exam before, right? And not only that, but you've also got the most skills out of us. You've got all three aspects of jutsu and you've got the Sharingan too."
Sasuke didn't say anything. His new team didn't need to know that he didn't have the Sharingan anymore; while he should trust them—and he mostly did—he wasn't sure if he wanted them to know. Sai was definitely someone he didn't like at this point, and Yugito seemed to be, like him, the lone-wolf type of person. She didn't look like she would betray any of them, but it was obvious she was used to going it alone.
"Fine," Sasuke said after a moments pause, "Though I don't know exactly what you're expecting, making me the team leader."
"You took the test before right? You should have some idea what this 'Forest of Death' might hold," Yugito remarked, putting at hand on her hip.
"And Uchiha-san is highly respected by his peers," Sai said, and Sasuke looked at him with a questioning look, "I've heard much praise about you from Yamanaka Ino-san, who I met at the New Year's Festival."
Sasuke was right when he remembered this guy being in company with Ino at the Festival. Looking at him now, Sasuke realized that Sai was probably the kind of person that Ino would be attracted to. At least now she was off his back—she was Sai's problem now.
"Alright, the Forest challenge is the day after tomorrow," Sasuke said, ignoring the 'peers' comment, "Let's meet tomorrow at Training Ground Three. It's just outside the village—ask the gate guards directions if you don't know how to get there. We'll practice training together—most of the teams we're up against have been together since they graduated, and they have their teamwork down better than us. We need to get some sort of edge in, other than skill."
Yugito gave a small smile—more like the corner of her mouth turned up a little, showing some white teeth, "Heh. Good thing you're leader, I'd have never thought to work on teamwork."
Sasuke didn't say anything in response to this other than: "I'll see guys tomorrow. We'll make it at two o'clock."
A/N: Haha, FINALLY you get to find out the source of the anomaly signature. BethandMolson was the only one who guessed right. Yep, that would be Nibi-chan, for those of you who didn't realize who she was. She's the cannon host of the two-tailed cat. (My favourite Bijuu.) She's from Kumogakure, which would be why Sasuke sensed her chakra signature there. Why he can sense her Bijuu chakra all the time and why he can't sense Naruto's all the time is because she has a different kind of seal than Naruto does. A lot of people guessed the host of the Hachibi from the most recent chapters. Uh no… I was quite surprised to find out that Kumogakure had two Bijuu—three if you count Nariko. Besides, I wasn't aware of the existence of Hachibi in Kumogakure when I planned this out, and quite honestly, I was convinced that Orochimaru was host to Hachibi. (Leading to Sasuke being the indirect host of Hachibi and then Japanese legend would take it's course in which the Eight-tailed Snake and the Nine-tailed Fox would have their epic battle, resulting in the eventually defeat of the Hachibi. All spelling out in my head as: Naruto vs. Sasuke equals dead Sasuke.)
Editor's Note: OK. LET ME SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU. Big chakra a la Naruto in Kumo. Naruto equals Jinchuuriki. Kumo Jinchuuriki? That would be Nibi-san KTHXBYE. A message from your friendly neighbourhood editor (who figured it out instantly).
I wrote that FOREVER ago. XD
