"Man, I just hope one of us doesn't have to fight... you know..." Naruto tilted his head in the direction of Yoroi.
"Or the Sand guy with the red hair, for that matter," Sasuke muttered.
"Yea. Just, whoever it is, be careful," I whispered.
We watched the screen as it spun through all the names of the genin.
"The next match will be... Yoroi of the Leaf against Rock Lee of the Leaf!"
Man, Lee really had shitty luck. This lifetime and the last, it would seem.
"Hey, it's the kid with big eyebrows!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Should we warn him?" Sasuke asked lowly.
"Warn of what?" Akio asked curiously from behind us. Clearly, he didn't know of the situation.
All three of us looked at him.
I put my hand on Sasuke's shoulder warningly. If Anko had not told him yet, then he was not meant to know.
"Nothing," Sasuke said finally, and by then Lee was already on the arena, Yoroi facing him. Anko nodded to me dicreetly as I turned back to the fight.
Obviously, word was not meant to be spread about who exactly Yoroi was, not even to other Leaf nin. Sasuke and Naruto didn't know exactly who he was either, but if they described the fight it would raise alarms.
Maybe it was to do with controlling panic. The Hokage probably wanted to keep his head (and everyone else's) in the sand, until such time it was required.
"Begin!"
Lee began the fight with a barrage of taijutsu, which was effortlessly deflected by Yoroi.
Gai sensei was screaming encouragement as Lee kicked, punched and jabbed. He was fighting at about mid chunin level, and I could tell people were already getting bored watching, considering he wasn't relying on any jutsu.
Oh, it was impressive, no doubt about that. For a genin to be fighting at chunin level in any field, that is. But this is the chunin exams, after all.
I'll be honest, I sort of hoped Orochimaru would just knock him out and be done with it. But it was not to be.
After a minute of being on the offense, Lee retreated warily, clearly waiting for Yoroi to retaliate.
And he did. His abilities were restricted to what the village knew of Yoroi, and so when Orochimaru attacked it was with kunai, explosives and a range of C-rank fire and wind jutsu. Yoroi's main weapon, his chakra draining technique, would be useless against someone who didn't use chakra.
It was really all odds against Yoroi, which was ironic considering his fight in canon. I didn't know how he planned to win this one without coming under scrutiny if he used any techniques that were out of character.
"Why do you think he is pretending to be so weak?" Sasuke asked us under his breath.
"Maybe he's hiding his abilities, like Sasa-chan did," Naruto reasoned.
I remained quiet. In whatever way I looked at it, this was a good outcome that Orochimaru was remaining in-character. It greatly reduced the chances of Lee receiving any catastrophic injuries, or worse.
There was a minute more of intense sparring, then;
"You are talented at Taijutsu, however are you incapable of ninjutsu or genjutsu?" came Yoroi's voice, a taunting edge to it.
Lee danced backwards from a high kick, his brow furrowing.
"I may not be talented at nin or genjutsu, but I make up for it with my taijutsu!"
There was a rough chuckle in response.
"You are under an illusion. Taijutsu can only take you so far, and while talented at taijutsu you are far from an all-round chunin."
"I will succeed and become a great ninja, with or without such jutsu! As long as I may protect my village, I will continue to fight!"
It was impossible to see what Orochimaru was thinking behind Yoroi's face accessories, but I imagined he looked rather unimpressed. After all, no one else in the crowd but a select few knew od Lee's true taijutsu prowess.
"Lee! Take them off!" Gai yelled, his eyes filling with tears.
"Yes, Gai sensei!" Lee cried, also tearing up as he removed his weights.
Orochimaru waited politely, his arms crossed and tapping his forearm, the only sign of his impatience.
But when Lee dropped the weights, there was a noticeable widening to his eyes behind his glasses.
And then Lee attacked, and there was an audible gasp from the audience as Lee displayed his true speed.
He was so fast, I could barely keep up with my eyes. Seeing it in real life... it was like nothing else. There was no doubt his speed was above jounin level.
"Wow, Bushy-brows is good," Naruto gasped.
I was satisfied to watch Orochimaru get pummelled, even if he was letting Lee do it. Five kicks, two jabs and a punch to the face later, Lee retreated once more.
"You should give up now," Lee told him.
Yoroi, who was battered on the ground, slowly got to his feet.
"Impressive," he drawled. "Maybe you do deserve a promotion, after all. However..."
There was an intake of breath as he raised his hand into a one-handed ram seal.
"Move, and I will detonate the tags I have planted on your body."
Lee froze, his mouth dropping open.
"Wh-what? When did you-?"
"You were in direct contact with me, were you not?"
There was silence. What would he do? The question hung heavily in the air.
"I will kill you in the next three seconds unless you give up. Three, two-"
"Forfeit, Lee! It's not worth your life!" Gai cried out.
There was a pause, a moment's hesitation.
"I forfeit," Lee finally said, his shoulders slumping. It was an anticlimatic end to what could have been an amazing battle.
"Winner; Yoroi of the Leaf!"
Yoroi strode off the arena floor as his match was announced, and Lee quickly checked himself for tags.
"Hey! There were no tags!" Lee yelled in horror. Yoroi just laughed.
"Isn't that cheating?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.
"Not at all; it was simple deception, no different to any genjutsu. In real life, that sort of thing has saved lives," Akio responded. Anko grunted an affirmative.
As Lee trudged off the arena floor, the next match was called.
"Zaku of the Sound versus Temari of the Sand!"
It was just as the two were walking on stage, however, that I found myself with a hand on my shoulder.
I turned around to see the Hokage behind me. I stared up at him, my mouth opening in shock. Naruto and Sasuke were also similarly surprised.
"I believe there is something we have to attend to, young Sora. If I may," and suddenly I was pulled into a shunshin.
I stumbled as I appeared in a familiar area. Familiar from the anime, that is. It was a large space interspersed with wide pillars every few metres; the whole place had an eery feel to it. We had arrived next to two circles, one inside the other.
The sealing.
I blinked up at the Hokage, who gestured at me to remove my shirt.
Oh no. Wasn't this where Orochimaru confronted Kakashi?
I took my shirt off slowly.
Maybe it wouldn't happen this time, because Kakashi wasn't here. Plus, even if he did come, it's not like he would do anything bad, would he? I never did understand why he bothered to confront Kakashi. It wasn't like he would have kidnapped Sasuke, since he still had the invasion to account for; such a blatant act would have had him dealt with before the final exams, rather than being let to walk about as he liked. The Hokage was strange like that, letting a criminal wonder about. I never understood that, either, despite Orochimaru's threat to Anko.
The only reason I could conclude, then, was that he wanted to create mischief, for lack of a better word.
"I'm going to seal the curse mark you received, Sora-kun. That thing strengthens the impurities of your thoughts, increases your negative emotions. It is dangerous. However, the seal is limited to your own decisions; it will not stop the curse-mark affecting you if you have no will to fight it."
I wet my dry lips and nodded, throwing my shirt to the side.
Luckily I hadn't hit puberty and was as flat as a board, otherwise it would have been awkward for the Hokage to find out I was a girl right here.
I sat down in the circle as the Hokage began painting seals on my body, and spiralling out across the circles. It wasn't long until he was done. My chest was tight with tension as he approached me, and began to make seals.
"Wa-wait!" I cried. "Can we postpone this? Just a day ot two? I'm really tired after the fight and-"
Hiruzen sighed, cutting me off.
"No, Sora-kun. Now, this will hurt a bit."
And, before I could save myself, his hand was on my shoulder and I screamed as I felt the seals craw across my body and spin themselves around the curse-mark. It hurt. A lot.
The upside was it only lasted a few seconds, and I collapsed onto my back as soon as his hand left my shoulder, barely conscious.
And then...
"It's been a while, sensei."
I could hear him, but my body was groggy, my limbs not functioning. I managed to lift myself for a second on one arm, to see him stepping out from behind a pillar, only to collapse again. I watched through half-lidded eyes, feeling my conscious try and flee me, darkening the edges of my vision.
Hiruzen sighed and seemed unperturbed by Orochimaru's arrival. He was no longer diguised as Yoroi, instead wearing the standard Sound jounin fare.
"What are you doing here, Orochimaru?" Hiruzen asked, his voice resigned.
"I thought you would be happier to see me. It's been so many years since we last saw each other, dear sensei," Orochimaru responded with faux disappointment.
"You should stay away from my village unless you want to be killed," Hiruzen said without inflection.
"Then why is it you have not rid the village of me already, hm?"
What was Hiruzen doing? Why was he holding back?
Hiruzen didn't respond, so Orochimaru just shrugged lightly.
"In any case, your endeavours to seal the curse-mark on Usagi-chan are useless; that is not my real curse-mark."
What?
"It was a prototype, after all I didn't want him dead and this seal only has a death rate of one percent," he continued, smirking as he stepped closer. "It's only worth is that I can track the victim, create a chakra anchor for revival and keep them in line if I so wish. It's rather useful on my more obnoxious experiments. Allow me to demonstrate..."
His hand lifted into a ram seal, and suddenly I was crying out, writhing on the ground despite my fatigue, hand clutching at the mark. It felt as if my chakra had turned corrosive inside my body, burning me from the inside.
Now I knew how Anko felt.
"Enough," Sarutobi snapped. Orochimaru obeyed with a mild laugh, leaving me panting and fearful. Could he kill me at any time? Or was it just pain he could make me experience?
On one hand, I was thankful it wasn't the actual curse mark. On the other, it was still pretty shitty.
"No offense Sensei, as fun as this is I didn't come here to see you. I want to talk with the adorable child behind you. We have much to catch up on."
Orochimaru once again stepped closer, and suddenly the Hokage's demeanour changed as he threw off his hokage robes, leaving him in battle armour beneath. He took a battle stance.
"Come any closer and I will not hesitate to make a scene," Hiruzen said coldly.
Orochimaru stopped and smiled coyly.
"My, my sensei aren't you the scary one. I suppose it doesn't matter, since the little one will be mine very soon indeed."
I squeaked in terror. He had just confirmed he was going to kidnap me. That was not ok. That was definitely NOT FUCKING OK.
Especially since no retrieval teams had managed to get Tenzo back and several years had already passed; it would be no different for me. Orochimaru was too proficient at hiding.
His lips quirked at the pathetic squeak I emitted, his eyes settling on me, predatory and amused. I stared back at him with wide, terrified eyes, despite the fact I swayed, on the verge of unconsiousness.
"Not if I have any say in it," Hiruzen broke in coolly. Thankfully his gaze returned to Hiruzen and he laughed, the sound lilting, mocking.
"Well, if you want to kill me, now is the time sensei..." and then he began to walk away, and after two steps in which Hiruzen did nothing, he disappeared in a shunshin.
After several moments passed in which he did not return, I curled up into a ball. My chest was understandably tight with anxiety, but I still fell unconscious.
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