Disclaimer: I own nothing but with that said I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway!
Hey! Welcome back to yet another chapter I'm sure many of you have been anticipating a lot of what's to come given the contents of the last chapter and the cliffhanger ending and I am sorry it's taken a bit for me to get back to this but hey, better late than never right?
Anywho, please enjoy the chapter (or don't, can't please everyone) and as always I'll see you all at the bottom in the authors notes!
…
"Ugh, my head… what happened?"
Naruto winced as he slowly rose from his resting position, his hands immediately coming up to rest upon his thundering temples in an effort to soothe the painful pounding in his skull. He felt like he'd been kicked through a house or something…
Pushing past the pain he finally took notice of his surroundings and frowned at the unfamiliar setting he found himself within. Gone were the twisted roots and gnarled tree trunks of the Forest of Death that he'd become accustomed too over the past few hours and in their place was a simple set of four dark grey concrete walls. The room didn't appear to even have a window and the only source of light was a dim lamp sat in the corner of the room.
He shifted his attention to his more immediate surroundings and noted that he was resting on what appeared to be a hospital bed, the sterile white sheets and long cot reminding him of those found within Konoha's General Hospital... but he'd never seen any room that looked quite like this. By his bedside, there was a small wooden nightstand placed by his bed but it was left bare implying that he'd had no visitors.
"Where am I?" He whispered, slowly shifting his body to dangle feet first off the bed. He tried to dredge up the memories of what happened that may have led to this moment and within seconds he was assaulted by snippets of memories, flashes so brief that he almost wasn't sure if they were his. Pictures of pure rage, untamed hate, and intense pain that left him reeling once more clutching his head between his trembling hands.
"Kyuubi, what did you do?..." He croaked fighting to sort through his own tainted recollection.
He received no answer, nothing but a twisted echo of deep laughter that vanished almost as quickly as it came. He didn't need a response to tell him the truth he already knew in his heart. He'd lost control again… no, he'd given willingly into it.
Nothing had changed, he still wasn't strong enough to protect anyone… if anything he was more of a danger to everyone around him! Sakura… Satsuki, his blood felt like ice in his veins as he came to the realization that it was possible he could have attacked them in his trance. No clear memories of them having appeared in his brief but violent visions.
"No… no, I wouldn't!" He growled angrily. pushing himself off of the cot and onto the frigid stone floor below the soft thump of his steps echoed through the room as he made his way forward. It didn't take him long to find his now discarded shoes and clothes, those having apparently been removed while he was unconscious. Now fully dressed and more determined than ever he made his way to the door and gripped the silver-handle, pulling it wide open just in time to rush face-first into an incoming body, his face promptly driven headfirst into the solid figure.
"Feeling restless eh, Naruto?"
Taking a step back he quickly shook the stars out of his vision from the abrupt collision only to have his prior sensation of dread temporarily shift towards a sense of relief at the sight of a very familiar masked visage looking down upon him.
"Kakashi-sensei!" He greeted almost overjoyed to see a friendly face for the first time in what felt like ages. "Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything, but what are you doing here? Actually where is here anyway?" He asked rapidly but still allowing the jounin to push him gently back into the room with a soft shove promptly closing the door behind them with a soft click.
"Easy now Naruto, one question at a time. Firstly, how are you feeling?" Kakashi asked turning the questions back on him while quietly looking his student over for any unseen injuries. "Everything still working okay in there?"
"I feel fine, my head kinda hurts but even that is going away pretty fast." He answered honestly, flexing his arms slightly to show that he was in relatively good shape all things considered. "But what happened in the forest? Are we safe and where are Sakura and Satsuki?"
"Well, at least you haven't slowed down any so that's a good sign." Kakashi mused leaning against the wall and pulling out his little book as he took a moment to figure out how best to answer his charge's inquiries. "Alright, let's take it slow for a second, I'll answer your questions as best I can just one at a time please." He promised.
Naruto's first question was obvious. "Where exactly are we? I don't think I've ever seen a building in the village that looked like this."
"You are currently within the central tower of the Forest of Death, more specifically in the medical wing of the tower." He explained. "Naturally you three were pretty beat up by the time help arrived and it was decided that bringing you all here was a better option than trying to get you to the hospital."
Hearing the explanation Naruto couldn't deny that it made sense when he thought about it, it was natural to expect that after a possible five days of fighting and survival more than a few of the competitors might need some medical attention. Having somewhere nearby to treat them was just more efficient in the long run than having to run each of them to the hospital.
"What happened in the forest after I passed out?" He needed to know what happened during that gap, if they were still in the forest than he couldn't have been out for more than a couple of hours, maybe a day or two at worst.
Kakashi sighed mentally at the question even if he had been expecting it but knew his student needed to hear the truth. "What exactly do you remember?" He asked guessing that the blond likely had a bit more insight than he did up to a point given his first-hand experience.
Naruto frowned and scrunched his brow as he dredged up his recollection of the events. "I remember Orochimaru confronting us a second time … he didn't even bother toying with us at the end, he just took us apart like it was nothing..." His scowl deepened at the reminder of how powerless they'd been in the face of the pale sannin. "Then I… I spoke to the Kyuubi…" He admitted slowly, almost shamefully and Kakashi nodded in acknowledgment gave away nothing in his expression.
"How did that go?" He asked quietly.
"I have a feeling like you already know." Naruto didn't even spare the jounin a look. If he'd been brought here there was no way Kakashi hadn't been informed already. "How bad was it?" He questioned back unable to bring himself to face his mentor at the moment.
Kakashi was silent for a few moments before he answered. "Worse than you'd like… but not as bad as you might have expected." He revealed drawing a curious if a still somewhat worried glance from the blond. "You pulled on at least one tails worth of the Kyuubi's chakra according to the report and it seems that was too much for you to handle." He relayed confirming Naruto's fears of losing control.
"However, Lord Third arrived before you could do too much damage and you managed to avoid hurting anyone before you were eventually subdued." He finished and Naruto let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding as his worst fears thankfully remained unrealized, he didn't know what he would do if he found out he'd actually wounded or possibly even killed someone while not in control.
"That said you did give Sakura quite the fright and she's already expressed worry about your condition." He said prompting a new wave of panic to wash over the blond.
"Did… did you tell her?" He tentatively asked. He might have begrudgingly accepted his role as a container but he had no plans of ever actually revealing his status to anyone, let alone his peers. The adults of the village already hated him but he had proved that he could still befriend his peers… he couldn't lose them too…
"No." Kakashi shook his head. "It's wasn't my place or my secret to tell, that right falls to you but I thought you might want a heads up in case questions start coming your way." It didn't take a genius to figure out the whiskered genin wasn't fond of the idea that his team may discover his secret. Not that he fully blamed the boy for being so opposed to revealing it…
Another failure on the part of the village.
"I… I see, thank you..." He was grateful that his burden was still under wraps but part of him, a small part of him recognized that if he was capable of losing control than shouldn't his team have a right to know?
Temporarily pushing those less than comforting thoughts aside he noticed something about Kakashi's statement that unsettled him. "You said that I scared Sakura… what about Satsuki?" He questioned finding it odd the heiress wouldn't have her own questions about his… incident.
"That's… complicated." Kakashi sighed closing his book to look his student in the eye. "It also ties into your original question. Before you drew on the fox's chakra Orochimaru did something to Satsuki-" He started before being interrupted.
"What?!"
"Let me finish and keep your voice down." Kakashi chided, even if he understood how such news would be distressing his student needed to keep a level head. "Before you went wild Orochimaru saw fit to leave Satsuki with a parting gift, a mark of his own design that is supposed to corrupt the barer with its influence over time making them more susceptible to its influence." He explained.
Naruto frowned and raised a brow. "Like a parasite or something?"
"Something like that but unfortunately there is a lot we don't know about the mark or what changes he's made to it since it's creation." Kakashi then paused as if mentally preparing himself before continuing, his voice becoming grave. "There is something else as well…"
"Sensei…" He didn't like the tired look that seemed to have wormed its way onto his usually lax teacher's face.
"The mark comes with more issues than just eating away at its host's mind… upon receiving the mark the body has to either accept or reject the foreign and no doubt corrupted chakra created by it." Kakashi sighed but carried on. "This process is not only extremely painful for the person in question… but it also carries an exceedingly high mortality rate with a supposedly one in ten chance of the host's survival." He admitted reluctantly and Naruto's eyes widened in horror.
A one in ten chance…
"Are you saying she's going to die from this?!" Naruto rose angrily to his feet and Kakashi quickly shifted in response, placing his hand on his student's shoulder and forcing him to keep still as blond began to struggle.
"Naruto!" He barked in a tone he hadn't used since his time in ANBU but the training showed and Naruto flinched unconsciously in response, his wriggling grinding to a halt at the sudden harshness in his voice. "Listen to me… there is still a chance she'll pull through! This is not the first time we've encountered this seal and there are people who have survived its application before." He informed quickly and to his relief, he saw the blond begin to calm down ever so slightly at the revelation. Now armed with the knowledge that they weren't just sitting around waiting for her to die he seemed much more willing to listen to reason. "We've done everything we can for her right now but the rest is up to her."
Taking a chance, he slowly let go of his student and was pleased that he didn't try to run off immediately though he still seemed distraught by the news.
"Can it be removed?" He asked hopefully. If they could take it off than all of this wouldn't matter, right?
If only it were so simple.
"No…" Kakashi answered, grimly shaking his head to dismiss the notion. "Not even our best seal master has figured out how to remove it safely and until she wakes up there is nothing we can do about it that won't push her body past its limits." Kakashi ran a hand through his hair, his exhaustion with the whole situation slowly catching up with him but he needed to remain strong lest his team fall apart without him.
"Damn it… is she here? Can I at least see her?" He pleaded.
"She's a few rooms down, she was cleared for visitors yesterday even though other than some select individuals her condition is not known to the public and shouldn't be until the Third deems it safe. Sakura is with her right now, come with me." He made his way to the door and Naruto followed close behind.
The pair made their way out into the long hallway that was the tower's medical wing, a dark place that seemed more like a prison than a medical ward but it was to be expected seeing as it wasn't meant to be an actual hospital or clinic. The dim yellow lighting made the experience all the more nerve-wracking as Kakashi led them deeper into the depths of the tower.
Eventually, they arrived at a door being guarded by two masked figures, their beady black eye holes bored into them as they approached. He felt shivers run down his spine as they looked at him but he did his best to avoid expressing his discomfort at their presence.
"Kakashi-san, Uzumaki-san." The first greeted in a monotone voice, male judging by his body shape and the sound of his voice.
"He's been cleared, may we enter?" Kakashi asked in his usual jovial tone but to those experienced enough to read the man they would have been able to tell the silver-haired jounin wasn't truly asking for permission and that this was merely a formality.
The ANBU member was quiet for a few moments before nodding. "Very well."
Kakashi smiled and nodded, pushing the door open allowing the two to step inside, the soft click of the door closing behind them echoing through the halls.
…
"Sensei you're back already? Sakura turned at the sound of the door opening expecting to see the lanky form of her silver-haired sensei but her eyes grew wide at the sheepishly grinning sight of her other teammate shuffling his way into the room. Her breath unknowingly caught in her throat at his approach and her arms began to tremble at her sides...
"Naruto…" She whispered, not once daring to take her eyes off of him.
"Hey, Sakura…" He greeted quietly unsure of how to best approach the seemingly shell-shocked form of his pink-haired teammate. He timidly raised a hand to wave at the still-frozen form of the pinkette even as the tension began to grow thick between them and his earlier anxiety returned with a vengeance as he caught sight of her shivering…
A pit of negativity formed within him as the two stood in silence, neither sure what to say to the other for different reasons. Naruto wanted to reach out, to pretend nothing had happened but...
It's been a while hasn't i-oof!" The air left his lungs as a pink blur suddenly crashed into him nearly driving him to the ground as his arms instinctually came to wrap around the petite female that now had her face buried into the nape of his neck. Her own arms still shaking arms wrapped tightly around his torso as she practically squeezed the life out of him.
"Thank kami you're okay…" Sakura's muffled words still managed to reach his ears and he let a sad smile work it's way onto his face as he realized that Sakura hadn't had it much easier than either of them by the looks of it… her face had seemed worn and haggard, dark bad had begun forming under her usually bright eyes indicating a lack of proper sleep, and her hair lacked its usual luster that she prided herself on.
She honestly looked like she would fall over any second...
He tightened his grip on her, running his hand reassuringly over her back as they took a brief moment to reconnect after their shared ordeal. "I'm okay... and I'm sorry, for everything..." He mumbled knowing that even still she had heard him judging by her grip growing slightly tighter. He'd have to make it up to her at some point and he would gladly do what he could to atone for his failures.
Kakashi stayed silent during all of this, preferring to watch the tender moment from the sidelines with a soft smile. It was almost impossible to believe that only a few months ago these three could hardly stand one another but seeing them now made his a little less afraid of what the future held for them, he'd seen teams fall apart for less but it seemed that the bonds between these three were made of stronger stuff.
His lone eye drifted to the third member of his team and his mood quickly sobered, perhaps it was a bit too early for him to say that though…
After a few more seconds, Sakura eventually released her hold and the two shared a final brief but bright exchange of smiles before she turned her attention back towards the main source of her building stress, Naruto following right behind with a sudden sadness in his eyes. Blue orbs locking onto the room's main occupant.
"Princess…" He swallowed hard as he approached the still form of the Uchiha Heiress currently occupying the single bed and placed a shaky hand upon the side rail just inches away from her own.
If Sakura seemed worn down than Satsuki might as well have had one foot in the grave…
Satsuki had always been rather pale but now her skin was almost sheet white to the point where her veins could be easily seen through her skin which gave her a very sickly appearance. Her hair was matted and slick with sweat and what he assumed was water from the damp cloth that was currently resting upon her forehead while her cheeks were bright red as though she was suffering an intense fever. She was almost completely still barring the occasional twitch in her jaw or clenching of her teeth that gave brief hints at the pain she was currently in.
She was a mess…
His eyes narrowed in anger as he laid eyes on the source of all her current suffering, three black tomoe marks sitting proudly on display upon her neck as if to mock them in their failure to protect her. His fingers gripped the cool metal beneath his hands harshly as he tried hard not to allow himself to fall back into his anger. He would not make the same mistake twice if he could help it but it didn't make seeing her like this any easier.
"She's been like this for almost two days," Sakura informed him, quietly taking her previous seat beside the still comatose Uchiha where she had spent almost all her time when she wasn't visiting him. "They don't know when she'll wake up but they feel hopeful since she's lasted so long…" She tried to sound positive but it was clear her heart wasn't in it. As if she didn't dare to hope after Kakashi had informed her of the reality of the situation.
His frown deepened but he said nothing instead making his way slowly to the opposite side of the bed, never once taking his eyes off her as if she might fade completely should his gaze wander for even a second. Seeing her flinch as another bout of pain wracked her already weakened body he scowled and ever so gently took her right hand into his own, softly squeezing the almost lifeless appendage to let her know he was there even if she couldn't tell.
"You can't lose to this…" He whispered giving her yet another squeeze the faint pulse of her wrist giving him the slightest bit of hope, a sliver to cling too. "You're too stubborn to die from this. All your talk about your ambition, your goals… you better wake up Princess…"
Of course, Satsuki gave no answer or any outward indication that his words had pierced the darkness that kept her trapped within her mind. She remained ever motionless lost in her own world while the rest of Team Seven could only watch and wait for her to recover…
…
Satsuki's eyes snapped open as her body suddenly lurched forward her very bones aching in protest as she did so but she paid it no mind in favor of studying her new surroundings with suspicion. Stretched out before she was an open, grassy field stretched on for what looked miles without end expanding off into the horizon far beyond her ability to measure, its borders lost in the distance.
This was clearly not the Forest of Death.
There were no flowers in this field, no birds or insects, and no people either… just a long stretch of land with tall swaying grass that moved almost hypnotically in an unseen breeze. The sky above was dark, not cloudy or the type of darkness that came with the light of stars, but rather a swirling miasma of what resembled a pitch-black smoke that writhed and twisted in the air. It hung low, low enough that it brought her an unconscious sense of dread as though at any moment it would simply fall and slowly choke anything that it touched with its mere presence.
The air felt almost charged with negativity… sadness, rage, hate, envy, and everything in between resided in this space... She felt the hairs on her neck stand on end as she heard what sounded like thunder rumbling, hidden within the smoke. The longer she stared at ominous sight the angrier she felt and she quickly averted her eyes as she realized this..
Where was she?
Hisss...ssss…
Onyx orbs snapped to her heel and she jumped back at the sight of a sickly looking white snake writhing in the grass by her foot, its pale form having somehow managed to sneak its way past her defenses while she was distracted. Once she managed to calm down she instantly noticed that It's slick ivory-colored scales were dotted with spots of what almost looked like rot?... As if it was being eaten alive by something? The edges of the corruption were a bright, angry red and she watched in muted silence as it struggled through the grass towards her letting out yet another pained hiss as the corrosive substance continued to spread further with each passing second…
Whatever this snake was… it was clear that it was dying.
Pained yellow eyes locked intently onto her own and for a moment she felt an overwhelming compulsion to try and help it, to reach out and accept it and perhaps ease its pain in any way that she could... She lowered her arm towards it and it slowly began to slither its way forwards her pushing past the pain in an effort to reach out and accept her invitation.
The serpent was mere inches away now, it's forked tongue flicking rapidly as it approached her open palm… but as she continued to look into its pale eyes she was abruptly assaulted by memories… memories of similar-looking yellow orbs bearing down on her with malicious intent and fanged teeth stretched wide. In an instant pity shifted into a rage as white-hot fury burned angrily through her veins.
She suddenly stomped forwards and without the slightest shred of mercy or compassion in her soul, she crashed her foot upon the injured creature's neck with a shout, taking an almost unnatural joy in the sound of its pained cries of surprise and betrayal. Images of that pale figure flashed through her mind only spurring her act of violence on while the serpent's tail and body began flailing wildly as it attempted to escape, its jaw opened wide as if to strike but she made sure that her pin remained strong.
She smirked as it's struggling grew weaker with each passing second, it's enraged hissing becoming softer and less frequent before at last, the snake simply stopped moving. Either accepting its fate or simply because it lacked the energy to do so any further she did not know and truthfully she didn't care. Not yet satisfied, she violently ground her heel against its neck and was rewarded with a sickening crunch that she could almost feel beneath her sandal, watching quiet relief as the light within its eyes dimmed.
When she was sure there was no life left in its body only then did she lift her foot, lightly kicking the corpse just for good measure before she scoffed and turned her attention away from the now dead creature. The grass still swatted and the smoke still churned yet somehow the atmosphere felt just a touch lighter than before like everything was just ever so slightly cleaner.
She then blinked in surprise as a single ray of light suddenly appeared off in the distance, it was faint but there was no mistaking it in the darkness that reigned here. She spared a glance towards the still cooling corpse of her kill then looked towards the light once more…
"It beats waiting I guess." She muttered.
With a sharp breath, she began to walk towards the horizon and more importantly towards the light, the swaying grass parting in her wake as she made the journey towards the only possible exit from wherever she was. She had nothing to lose at this point anyway so what harm could it possibly do? The trip would be made in silence but it was a tense uncomfortable silence, one that brought forth encroaching feelings of anxiousness and despair. She spent what felt like hours wading through the dark but still, she walked, she walked until she long ago forgot where she started.
And then she was there, before her a towering yet gently illuminated column of light that somehow managed to pierce even the unyielding darkness that hung over these plains. She could feel a subtle warmth emanating from it as she approached that soothed her nerves, beckoning her forward… to embrace it… to take her away from here.
"Where are you going?"
She felt her heart jump into her lungs as something suddenly gripped her, cold fingers wrapping tightly almost painfully so around her wrist as she hurriedly swiveled on her heel fearfully tearing her arm away and retreating ever so slightly, her heart racing in her chest at the unexpected fright. Her breathing labored she turned swiftly turned her sight to whatever had grabbed her and her eyes grew wide at the scowling visage that stood across from her.
Positioned before her with a single arm left outstretched was what could only be described as her double… her mirror image in almost every way that mattered but just different enough to create a feeling of unease within her. Her skin was deathly pale, far paler than her own to the point where she almost appeared to be pure white which stood out in the muted realm that she currently occupied. Her facial features were near mirrors of her own but were far colder than anything she'd ever expressed… such pure unfiltered hatred in her gaze that she unconsciously found herself stepping back in slight fear.
"Answer me, where do you think you are you going?"
Her voice matched her own but each word carried with it an edge, it was more forceful, more demanding. It was almost overwhelming in the amount of ego present within it, as if she was some spoon-fed noble speaking down to a common peasant, each word hurled like an insult of some kind.
"What are you?" She frowned while her mind worked to process the abrupt appearance of this reflection of herself but found herself drawing blanks. "You look like me but you're…" She hesitated at the last second unsure if she should finish her thought.
"Not? Is that what you want to say?"If possible the frown upon her face grew deeper and her expression darker. "Well, sorry to disappoint but I am exactly what I look like… I'm you. The better you, the real you."She sneered and Satsuki instantly felt a matching scowl make its way onto her face at the antagonistic borderline openly hostile tone being sent her way.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'm the real me, there is no other." She hissed and the copy's frown flipped into a dark smirk, bringing a hand to her hip as if she were bemused by her rejection.
"That's what you tell yourself, but as I said the truth is that I am you. The you that hasn't lost sight of herself and her purpose, while you sit around playing pretend and waste our time with pointless pursuits."Around them, the languid miasma seemed to stir as if driven by some unseen force as it began to draw ever closer to the pair slowly enveloping the area in a thick fog that for the time being went unnoticed. Each far too occupied with the other to care.
"I have lost sight of anything!" She growled stepping forward as her pride and her drive were put into question. "My purpose is to kill Itachi and avenge my clan, nothing has changed and I will accomplish my goal."
"Except something has changed, hasn't it?."The copy spared her a pitiful glance but one not bereft of the usual disdain that she'd come to expect from this twisted fabrication. "You say that you still value our purpose, but it was only mere months ago where you were willing to throw all of our work, all of our dreams away to protect someone else was it not?"
There was only one instance in which she'd ever done something like that…
"I would have lost that fight regardless and the outcome could have been worse." She counted heatedly unwilling to accept blame for doing what she thought was right at that moment. "I did what I needed to." She defended promoting her reflection to scoff.
"What you did was let your feelings for him get in the way of our ambitions." She sneered matching her other with a step forward bringing them ever closer."You've become complacent in his presence, satisfied just with being second best to the point that even Sakura, as worthless as she is, is now gaining on you with every passing day!"She berated harshly.
"Your showing in the forest was pathetic! You did nothing of note or value other than get captured and now here we are… but I suppose something useful came out of it now that I can finally reach you."
"You don't know anything about me!" Satsuki shouted having finally grown tired of being spoken to like some kind of failure by whatever the hell this thing using her face was. "I'm not settling as second-best to anyone and I sure as hell am not pathetic!" Her words came off strong but rather than being cowed by her defiance her reflection grew bolder, seemingly incensed by her constant excuses.
"Do you not listen or are you just so stubborn that you've chosen not to hear me? I AM YOU!" She bellowed angrily dark purple wisps of chakra practically billowed off her in her fury. "Your thoughts are also my thoughts and your feelings are unfortunately mine to bear as well. There is nothing about you I am not aware of and this is why I know that between us… I'm simply the better one."The air of superiority returned and the almost noxious chakra faded as her reflection seemed to calm herself after her rant before continuing. "You on the other hand… you're like a little sheep, lost without direction and lying to yourself to cover up the things you don't want to deal with."
The smoke drew ever closer and the light that once radiated such warmth suddenly began to dim, slowly being consumed by the oncoming storm of darkness and growing ever weaker with each passing moment causing her to take her eyes off her double for a split second.
A mistake on her part.
"Urk!-" She gasped as cold hands fastened tightly around her throat and she was pulled forward, right into the snarling face of her enraged other, her heated breath feeling like hot embers upon her skin as she tried to escape her iron tight restraints.
"Looks like our time is running out but don't worry, we will talk again soon."A malicious smirk clawed its way onto her face as she slowly hoisted her choking captive into the fading light delighting in her struggling and reveling in the look of anger flashing in her eyes. "For now you can stay in control and live your little fantasy of friendship and comradery and see where it gets you. Just know that one day, I'm going to get out and when I do I'm going to burn it all down in front of you and take what this world owes us.
Satsuki's world erupted into light before she could respond to the threat her vision overwhelmed with the now blinding light but the sound of muffled cackling made her blood run cold in her veins, an impending sense of dread settling in her stomach…
Just what the hell was she?!
…
"Prin… you… ake…"
Satsuki groaned as jumbled words assaulted her ears but her mind failed to put them together, she felt someone or something take hold of her. For a moment dainty eyelids cracked open ever so slightly before recoiling slightly as the sudden brightness after days spent within the dark hit her. A slight scowl wormed its way onto dry cracked lips but after a few moments she was ready to try again, slowly revealing onyx colored orbs back to the world as the room around her came into focus.
"Hnn… what?" She blinked away the remaining fog from her vision and found herself being greeted by the relieved and slightly teary expressions of Naruto and Sakura who seemed only seconds away from shouting to the heavens in joy. "Sakura… Idiot…" Her words were slightly slurred but still clear enough to be understood.
Naruto scowled but the happiness in his eyes showed he wasn't phased in the slightest by name-calling. If anything he seemed to cheer up even more at the familiar address she'd given him. "Hey, Princess… how are you feeling?" He asked gently helping her into a sitting position with Sakura's help.
"About as good as you two look, so like shit." She scowled wincing as her bones popped and cracked after days of inactivity but refusing to allow that to stop her. "What happened?" She asked looking them over for the first time in what felt like ages. They both looked exhausted and stressed like they hadn't slept at all.
"Definitely still our usual Satsuki." Sakura sighed but despite the blunt callout didn't rebuke the statement knowing that they probably did look terrible at the moment, nightmares and stress could do that. "I'll fill you in on what you've missed, Naruto can you let sensei know that she's awake?" She asked sending a glance at her male teammate who needed and quietly excused himself leaving the two alone for the moment.
"Alright, spill it." Satsuki had enough of being kept in the dark.
"So it's like this…" Sakura proceeded to explain the events since their encounter with Orochimaru in the forest and all the way to the present going over her comatose state and the apparent function of the newest addition to her a person, something she was currently looking over with a mirror Sakura had on hand and frowning to herself as she inspected the mark.
"And there's no taking this off I'm guessing." She reasoned gently running a finger over the slightly rough patch of skin around the seal. "I'm just going to have to walk around with this from now on?"
Sakura nodded sadly. "According to Kakashi-sensei, there is no way to remove it and they didn't want to try messing with it while you were still unconscious." She explained taking back the mirror from a now thoroughly annoyed and exhausted Uchiha. "But hey, at least it matches your sharingan so that's something." She joked, trying to alleviate some of the tension which worked somewhat as Satsuki chuckled a bit at her teammate's poor attempt at making a terrible situation a little better.
"That makes me feel a bit better about having to walk around love bite from an old man Sakura, it really does." She snarked but there was no bite to it or at least none that was directed towards her while Sakura merely shivered at the mental image, her face growing a few shades paler at the unsettling mental image.
"Please never say that again." Sakura pleaded now thoroughly disturbed by the implication of a fifty something-year-old man going around biting young kids. As if it wasn't already creepy enough as is…
"I'm probably going to complain more later so I make no promises." She sighed but allowed herself to lay back and rest just in time for Kakashi and Naruto to filter back into the room, the silver-haired jounin returning with a large plate of food and his usual eye smile as the door closed behind them.
"A little birdie told me sleeping beauty finally woke up." Kakashi chirped. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been marked by a missing-nin who apparently wants to take over my mind and I've been in a coma for the past few days." She responded letting Kakashi know that she'd been informed of her new situation prompting the man to sigh but nod, at least she was caught up which saved him some time.
"You seem to be taking the news well at least." He praised setting the tray down and handing her a bowl.
"For now anyway, I'll tell you how I'm feeling about this again in a few hours." She said graciously accepting the bowl of soup he handed her as she set to work filling her empty stomach while the rest of Team Seven made themselves comfortable around her. After a few spoonfuls, she paused then looked up. "So what happens now?" she asked unsure where they were supposed to go from here. Sakura had mentioned that she'd been out for about three days which meant there should still be time left. "Are we still in the running to become chunin?"
"That's what you're concerned about?" Sakura sighed placing her face between her hands in exasperation while Naruto snickered behind his closed fist not at all surprised the heiress's seemed more concerned with missing her chance at promotion than being attacked by a missing-nin. It was just who she was.
Kakashi smiled.
"Given that you did manage to collect both scrolls before being waylaid by Orochimaru Lord Third has given you three a pass to the next stage." He revealed drawing a smirk out of the Uchiha who was glad to hear that their efforts wouldn't be in vain.
In truth, the Third had come very close to pulling all three of them out for their own safety but he had stepped in and vouched for his team pleading with his leader to wait and see before denying them a chance to proceed. Of course, had Satsuki or Naruto showed any signs of instability they would have been pulled out regardless but that didn't seem to be an issue as of the moment.
"That said, I think it's fairly obvious that we want to keep word of Orochimaru's presence quite as not to cause a panic." He warned and the three nodded. No doubt the village would have a fit if the general populous knew that Orochimaru of all people was skulking about somewhere.
"What about her seal?" Naruto asked. "Now that she's awake can anything be done about it?"
"That's a bit more complicated, unfortunately." He frowned. "I wasn't lying when I said that we can't remove it but what we can do is seal it." He revealed drawing confused glances from the three who found the idea of sealing a seal rather odd.
"How does that work?" Sakura asked. "If you seal it then isn't that almost like removing it?" Her understanding of seals and their functions was bare-bones at best but she did know that seals could be used to lock stuff up. If they locked Satsuki's mark than it wouldn't matter in the long run.
"I guess I should clarify, the easiest way to think about this is that we can suppress the mark but not seal it away completely. This will make it harder for the mark to affect her so long as she doesn't give in to it or actively try to draw upon its power." He explained.
"So sort of like putting it into a bottle that only she can open." Naruto simplified and Kakashi had to suppress a chuckle at the simplistic way of looking at it. How he wished his sensei was around to see it if only to imagine the exasperated look on his face while he did so.
"Not too far off but it's not a perfect bottle, the cap is a bit loose and so if she isn't careful it could still spill out if she doesn't pay attention." He amended deciding to work with the analogy for simplicities' sake seeing as the three seemed to understand that more.
"Can we do it now?" She asked more than happy to lock down the seal as quickly as possible. She wasn't sure if what she saw in her dreams was a product of the seal or her own imagination but any control she could assert over it would bring her some peace of mind.
"Not if you plan to continue the exams, no." He revealed. "The process is going to take a lot out of you and while we don't want to leave you exposed to the marks influence it will only be a short while."
"Is that safe?" Sakura frowned.
"It's that or she drops out." He shrugged, the process would almost certainly leave her unconscious for another day or two and judging by the number of teams that made it through there was almost certainly going to have to be a preliminary round meaning she would have to grin and bear it for the time being if she wanted to keep going. Only so many exceptions could be made before people started getting suspicious.
"That's not happening." She scowled shutting down any ideas of her willingly exiting the exams. As far as she was concerned If she was awake then she could continue.
"I thought so." He nodded "Which is why I'm encouraging you to get some rest now, the next phase will begin tomorrow and you'll need your strength." He advised tapping his leg before putting his book away. "Now, I have to go and report on your condition but I'll see you three bright and early tomorrow."
He stood and swiftly made his way out sparing them only a short wave of farewell before leaving the three alone and wondering just what the rest of the exam had in store for them after all of this.
…
Orochimaru frowned as he sat within the confines of one of his old hidden bases that was currently serving as his hideout for the duration of his stay in his old home. It was almost amusing that even after all this time they still hadn't found all of his old labs but his amusement was being spoiled by a more pressing matter that was eating away at his nerves and his patience.
Specifically, the fact that he could no longer feel the mark he'd gifted to one young Uchiha any longer. Something that had nearly sent him into a rage when he noticed it.
It was just gone, one moment it had been there and then the next he felt a sharp pain within him and then nothing. He could feel his agents on the outskirts of the village and even his old apprentice was unknowingly within his sights but the Uchiha, who he knew for certain was located within the central tower, was suddenly cut off from his senses.
"Tsk…"
That could only mean one of two things, the first was that she had simply failed to survive the process. This was the worst possible outcome not only throwing a huge wrench in his plans but painting a large target on his back one that would almost certainly prove fatal if he was ever caught.
The other was that his mark had been removed somehow but that seemed highly unlikely as Anko still possessed her mark and in the years since she'd survived his testing he had made improvements to the seal. If hers was still present than it was difficult to entertain the idea that either the Third or his bumbling toad of a teammate had managed devised a true counter to his greatest work.
He would have to wait until the chance presented itself for answers but for the moment he would continue making the proper arrangements from the shadows. He would have time to do as he pleased then Konoha was nothing but a pile of rubble beneath his feet after all.
- Day 5: End of the Second Stage -
The time had come and five days had passed marking the end of the second stage of the Chunin Exams. As expected there were far fewer teams remaining than after the first portion but still enough that a decent amount of competition remained still seeking to advance to the rank of chunin. Those that did make it to the tower whether by the skin of their teeth or time to spare were assembled in a large cement arena.
It was time to proceed with the next stage of the exams.
"Welcome." The aged but still powerful voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi greeted the remaining competitors, garbed in his usual red and white robes he raised a hand in a gesture of approval. "You have done well to make it this far but remember, your trials are not over yet so do not allow your prior success to lead to your downfall." He warned passing on some of his own experience in his words.
"I know many of you must be tired and exhausted but you must persevere, the harshness of this world cares little for the weak or the weary and so it falls to you to gather what strength you can to weather its storms." He continued and those competitors who had just barely made it seemed the most impacted by the Hokage's speech either slumping at the knowledge that they would be tested further or pulling themselves together as best they could with little energy they had left.
Towards the back, the members of Team Seven were scoping out their competition. It appeared that all of their graduating class managed to make it through which was good, sure it meant more competition but it proved they were either strong enough or resourceful enough to make it through.
They also caught sight of a few other teams of note, Naruto was quick to spot the team from Sand who were off to the left on their own. None of them seemed to be paying too much attention to the Third's speech but kept their eye's forward nonetheless. Except for Risa who had her eyes closed as if lost in thought but he didn't dare guess at what she was thinking.
He also saw the newcomers from Sound who looked a little beat up but for the most part, were unharmed so they also clearly hadn't struggled to advance.
"Now, I believe I should explain the true purpose behind these exams." The Third spoke and Naruto quickly tuned back in along with many of the other competitors who were confused by what he meant. Wasn't the purpose of these exams to see who was ready or worthy to move beyond being genin?
"I know most of you are confused by my words but you must understand that the Chunin Exams are not just a series of simple tests for a chance at promotion, their true meaning is far larger and far more important than that. The harsh reality is that these exams serve as a replacement for war." He revealed and quite a few flinched at the sudden shift in tone from the almost grandfatherly man. "Our world is one of constant violence and events like these have more than singular purpose, they allow not only you all to test yourselves against your peers but they also show the implied strength of each village that chooses to participate."
The Third's expression was grim as if he found the whole thing barbaric but he continued. "Each of you represents an extension of your village's power and pitting you against one another is a contest not just between individuals but between the villages as well. That is why the next portion of these exams will be one on one matches between you all."
A tense hush fell over the room at the contestants slowly digested the truth of why they were here. By the Third's side a pale, sickly-looking jounin stepped forward, coughing into his fist as he did so.
"Lord Third, if I may?" He asked and the Third nodded stepping back and making his way towards the back towards a flight of stairs leaving the assembled chunin hopefuls with the sickly man.
"Hello, my name is Hayate thought that is not important at the moment." He said coughing ever so often during his introduction that left many wondering how such a frail man had apparently become a jounin. "I will be your proctor for this stage of the exams however before we begin the true final stage you all will have to pass through a preliminary round of matches." He explained and immediately annoyed faces greeted him at this knowledge.
"Why do we need a preliminary round?" Shikari asked deciding to seek clarification though she had a few ideas based on the information that had just been revealed to them.
"The final stage of the Exams is open to the public and that includes important figures such as Daimyo, nobles, and even other world leaders all looking to see what each village has to offer." He explained calmly not at all bothered by the annoyed group before him. "For this reason, it falls to us to bring forth only the best and if you look around there are still quite a few of you remaining, far more than we expected."
"Culling the weak and the lucky from the pool…" Sakura whispered and Satsuki grunted displeased to be wasting time but still eager to see what the rest of her competition could bring.
"It goes without saying but from here on out the exam is no longer team-based, you will fight on your own and you will not be bound by the success or failures of your comrades." Hayate continued. "The fighters will be chosen at random and without village bias meaning you could very well be paired against even your own teammates so keep that in mind as we begin." He said looking around.
"Like the previous portions of the exam if you feel like you can not for whatever reason continue than you may back out now and make your way out the same way you came in. There will be a team waiting to escort you safely back out of the forest." He said pointing towards the large door they had all entered through.
No longer obligated to stay together a few individuals made their way out having had enough of the seemingly endless hurdles while others simply knowing their limits knew that they would be better of calling it quits now. Naruto noticed that among these people was a certain silver-haired genin who seemed relatively unharmed yet still bowed out and his eyes narrowed but he kept quiet for the moment.
Once all those who had quit left the area Hayate nodded and moved to proceed.
"Very well, the rest of you can make your way up to the spectator section and we will call the first pair of fighters down when ready." He ordered prompting all the teams to quickly make their way up the stairs, falling in line with their waiting teachers who were watching the proceedings from above.
"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura greeted happily while behind her Satsuki and Naruto nodded towards the laid back jounin resting against the wall who smiled and waved in return.
"Hello my cute little genin, you three look a bit better today." He noted seeing that Sakura and Naruto no longer looked like they were moments away from passing out and even Satsuki seemed back to her usual self after a solid rest and some food. "How are you feeling?" He asked calmly but he shot a look towards Satsuki who caught on to the true meaning of the question.
"I'm fine Sensei, it doesn't hurt and I haven't felt anything out of the usual." She admitted quietly and he nodded.
"Good, I know this is not ideal but the moment your fight ends we can get it sealed up." He promised, laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Just try and keep your chakra usage to a minimum for the moment, the less you use the better." He advised and she nodded.
"I'll try but I don't plan on losing either." She rebutted acknowledging the warning but making it clear that she was here to prove herself as well. She didn't enjoy being handicapped but she'd make due, she was an Uchiha after all.
Shaking his head at her usual attitude he turned his attention to his other two students. "How about you two, feeling alright?" He asked again this time much more relaxed than before.
"Ready to show off what we can do, isn't that right Sakura?" He grinned, putting his hands in the pockets of his hoodie while Sakura nodded in agreement at his side feeling the infectious energy spreading to her as well.
"Right, we won't disappoint you!" She promised more than ready to put the forest behind her and show off how much she had changed since the academy. No doubt her peers had also grown but she felt confident that the gap between them was much smaller now than it had ever been before and she was pretty confident in her ability.
"I don't doubt it, now look alive it seems the first names are about to be drawn," Kakashi warned shifting his attention away from his students and the trio followed suit, turning to look down at the waiting form of Hayate who seemed to be speaking into a small microphone on his collar.
Right on cue Hayata nodded and coughed loudly to gather the attention of the waiting competitors. His voice carrying strongly throughout the stone chamber.
"We are now ready to begin, and the first match will be…"
Everyone tuned in with anticipation to see if they would be called, Hayate seemed to be intentionally dragging this out just to taunt them but the inevitable could not be delayed and he announced the first pair of combatants.
"Will Kin Tsuchi and Sakura Haruno make their way down to the arena!" Hayata shouted drawing all eyes towards the two Kunoichi in question.
"Wait, I'm up first?" Sakura blinked in confusion having not expected to be pulled up for the first round. She may have wanted to prove herself but that didn't mean she wanted to be the opening act so to speak, a sudden spark of nervousness running through her at the thought of losing and utterly embarrassing herself, her sensei, and her team.
Kami she felt like she was going to throw up a bit...
"Sakura," Satsuki's voice snapped her out of her self induced nausea. "Stop overthinking it, just do what comes naturally to you and you won't lose." Satsuki didn't spare her teammate a passing glance but those that knew her well could easily tell that was her way of helping the pinkette.
"Don't overthink it… right." She nodded and Satsuki gave a grunt of approval.
"You're going to crush it Sakura-chan!" Naruto was much more direct in his vote of confidence offering her a thumbs up and a cheeky grin causing her to snort a bit at how cliche he was being but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless and humored him with a grin of her own.
"Good luck Sakura." Kakashi, as always kept his praise simple but she expected nothing more or less of her instructor and quietly thanked him as well for his wishes before making her way down the stairs and across from her waiting opponent who seemed slightly annoyed at having had to wait for her.
"Finally, I thought you were never going to come down. If you needed that long of a pep talk just to fight then maybe you shouldn't be here at all." Kin sneered and Sakura was momentarily caught off guard by the rather catty tone having not expected such immediate hostility but recovered quickly having gotten much better at dealing with such attitudes during the early months of her time as a genin.
To think Satsuki's bad attitude would come in handy for something.
"My bad, I just wanted to give you a bit more time to enjoy the spotlight before I had to take it from you. After all, getting knocked out of the running first is no doubt going to be more than a little embarrassing, to say the least." Sakura apologized, heavy condescension in her tone and she had to hide a smirk as Kin's face went from annoyed to infuriated.
"You think someone like you is any match for me? You look like the type to hide behind your teammates while you sit off in the corner pretending to be a real kunoichi." Kin hissed glaring at Sakura's long glossy hair which had survived rather well despite the circumstances. "I'm going to show you the difference between me and you."
Sakura merely scoffed and crossed her arms. "Let's see how long you can keep that talk up, but if you think I'm going to be easy to take down then I'll be happy to prove you wrong." She smirked noting how easy it was to rile up her opponent. She would keep that in mind going forward.
Hayate seeing things beginning to escalate between the two knew that now was the time to interrupt before they started without him.
"You can prove whatever you'd like to one another in a moment but I need to explain the rules first." He coughed stepping between the two glaring kunoichis. " Firstly, the match doesn't begin until I say so and in the same way, the match doesn't end unless I say so." He stressed this part making sure the two heard him before he continued.
"Secondly, any outside interference counts as an immediate disqualification." This part was directed at the audience listening in. "Thirdly, at any point, you may forfeit if you choose and should an opponent forfeit the victory is to cease all attacks immediately."
"Any questions?"
"Can we start now?" Kin hissed, her hands already reaching down towards her pouch to draw her weapons while across from her Sakura did the same, fingers sliding down her thigh towards her kunai holster.
"No patience… very well, begin!" He shouted and quickly hopped back ready to spectate the incoming battle.
The first match of the preliminary round was now underway!
AN. Chapter Complete!
Sorry this took a while but I've been very busy with work over the past few days and my desire to write much of anything has been pretty low. Not sure if I need a fresh project or something to get me invested again but we'll see. Anyway, there is a lot to go over in this chapter and I will do my best to cover everything I think needs to be discussed.
Starting off, why didn't I show Naruto's rampage through the forest and instead cut to the aftermath?:
This was done for two reasons, the first being that I really wanted to just be done with the Forest of Death. The reality is I explored pretty much everything I needed to inside of it, we got to see Team Seven flex some new skills and newfound confidence, we then saw them get utterly dismantled and brought low, and Satsuki received her curse mark. Given the set up done in the last chapter, it just made more sense to pull them forward than start from that moment on.
The second reason was that I didn't want to establish a precedent for the power of Naruto's one-tailed state just yet. In trying to keep the tails powerful without being excessive I wanted to get at least the Chunin exam prelims out so I can get a good idea of how powerful everyone will be and then I can adjust from there. I know people will find this disappointing but I do plan to show what a rampaging Naruto looks like here.
Next up we'll touch on Satsuki given that there is some funky stuff going on with her seal:
Now I don't want to touch heavily on this because I like the story to unfold over time but I did try to be a bit more obvious with some things to help craft at least some ideas of where things might go. Orochimaru being unable to sense the fragment of himself within Satsuki, the appearance of the mirror Satsuki, the lack of negative effects she is currently suffering, etc. It's a bit heavy-handed for what I would like to do but given that people are still concerned even after my last AN I didn't think going for lots of subtly would be the best idea.
The mark is still going to serve a purpose and it's still going to be a part of her character and as I talk more on it in the story I will also go more in-depth as to what exactly is going on.
I do also want to address a question I've seen with people asking why I didn't give Naruto or Sakura the mark instead for the sake of being different and there were reasons for this as well. In regards to Naruto, I already have his character planned out very far in advance and him having the curse mark isn't exactly part of those plans. It's also extremely risky for Orochimaru to do something like that and so I quickly shut that idea down when I was planning.
Sakura could have gotten the mark but the reason I didn't go down that route is that like Naruto I have plans for her and also the story isn't really about Sakura. If she received the mark I would need to dedicate substantial amounts of time reviewing her mental state, choices, the impact on other characters, etc and for someone who isn't part of the harem or the main character, it's just not something I want to go into that heavily. (I would actually like to finish this story one day)
Lastly, the prelims:
So as you can see I plan to shake up some of the matches, both to allow character progression as well as power growth and that'll carry on right up and into the finals. I will admit this is going to be a tough part to write since I prefer to write character interactions over fights but I will do my best to make them interesting. I won't spoil the upcoming matchups but I hope you are interested in seeing them all the same.
That covers the main story stuff, let's talk briefly about the poll and the harem.
Once again I have to say thank you to everyone that participates I can't overstate how good it is to see people engage with it and as I said before I will almost certainly make use of it going forward when choices like this need to be made.
Like before I will not say who is winning between Tayuya and Samui for the sake of keeping things relatively fair so just vote for whoever you'd like to see. I have seen great reasoning for both and I am a fan of both though I do admit I have a bias for one over the other but I shall not say who or why yet.
For those who are newer and wonder why I don't do both seeing as people seem very torn trying to pick between them, the reason is that I made a promise not to allow the harem to grow unreasonably large. The way I write characters and romances (at least for this story) isn't suited to throwing in a bunch of characters at will and so despite what some may hope for only one can be selected.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I do hope you are looking forward to the next one. If you aren't for whatever reason then I sincerely wish that you find another story you enjoy and I thank you for supporting the fic up to this point.
I'll see you all next time!