"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks, Letters, and Setting

I don't own Naruto


Chapter 48: The Preliminaries Part 1

At the Tower

"So, these are all the sensei of the teams that haven't been eliminated?" Hiruzen asked as he stepped into the arena under the tower in the Forest of Death.

Hayate nodded. "Though it would be more accurate to say these are the sensei of the teams that haven't been eliminated YET. Their allotted time is about end in a few minutes."

Hiruzen nodded in understanding as he looked around. He noticed the Jonin sensei with their Genin teams from Suna, Oto, and Kiri. He also noticed two of the older teams from Konoha who had made it through.

However, none of the rookie teams had made it through yet, and though there wasn't any evidence of them being eliminated just yet, every second that passed by lowered their chances of making it into the next round, suggesting something may have happened.

Hiruzen frowned as he looked at the visibly worried Jonin sensei of the rookie teams. 'Did I make a mistake in allowing rookie teams to participate? Did I place too much faith in the Jonin sensei's judgement?'

Even Naruto, who was known for not usually having the most expressive face, was visibly concerned.

'What's going on here? There shouldn't have been any other Genin who were able to give them any trouble, let alone defeat them. How have they not made it back yet? Did something go wrong?' He thought to himself.

"Do you think we made a mistake in entering our Genin?" Kurenai asked out loud in concern, breaking the silence between the 3 Genin sensei.

For a brief moment, the other two stayed silent, wondering if she had a point. Then, Asuma put his hand on her shoulder from beside her.

"We should have more faith in our Genin. If they were eliminated, we would have heard about it. Let's just give them a few more minutes."

"I suppose you're right… Though at this point, I don't even care if they pass. I just hope they're alright…" Kurenai admitted.

"Are we sure they're not dead? What are the chances that they show up at this point?" One of the Chunins helping out with the exams asked Ibiki, who was also present.

"I'll suppose we'll just have to wait and see." He replied. "And by the way, I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you."

"Huh? Why?"

Ibiki glanced over at Naruto, Asuma, and Kurenai who was giving the Chunin the death glare.

"I'm not sure those Jonin sensei like hearing the sound of your voice all that much."

The Chunin gulped when he saw their murderous glares. "Uhhh… Y-yeah of course… Oh, I forgot! Anko-san wanted me to… ummm… organize a few things!" He blurted out as he quickly slipped away from the scene to hide from the Jonin sensei of the rookie teams who looked like they were ready to slit his throat at any moment.

"Heh. Yeah, you go do that." Ibiki chuckled to himself quietly. "Stupid kid."

"It's good to have faith in your team, but it was foolish for them to enter such inexperienced rookie teams into the exams. It could have lead to their deaths!" Gai whispered to Kakashi, who was present to watch with special permission from the Hokage on account of his involvement with Team 7.

Kakashi shrugged. "Eh. Who knows? I entered the Chunin Exams as a rookie too. I turned out alright."

"But you were a special case! A once in a lifetime genius! Do you think that all these kids are like you?" Gai asked in disbelief.

Kakashi shrugged. "Eh. We'll find out soon enough." He looked nonchalant to everyone, including Gai who was fuming at his coolness, but deep down inside he was worried for his sensei's daughter and his former subordinate's brother.

Hayate looked at the clock on the wall, watching the time wind down.

"Alright. It looks like that's going to be everyone that will make it. Let's have all the Genin come down to the arena." Hayate announced when there was less than 1 minute left.

"Wait! There's still a bit of time left!" Kurenai argued.

Hayate shrugged. "We can wait if you feel like all 3 remaining teams are somehow going to come through those doors in the next 30 seconds, if that'll make you feel better."

Kurenai glared at him for his response which she took to be snarky, but everyone decided to just wait the last few seconds out.

Naruto anxiously watched the clock wind down. '10… 9… 8…'

*SLAM*

The silence of the waiting shinobi was broken when the door was slammed open.

"Are we too late? Did we make it in time?" Narumi asked out loud as she entered the room with the other rookies.

"It looks like you were right after all, Kurenai-san. I apologize." Hayate told Kurenai before turning to the rookie Genin that walked in. "Yes, you guys are here on time."

The three Jonin sensei felt like a huge weight was lifted off of their shoulders when they saw their teams and rushed over to check on them.

However, Naruto's happiness in seeing his team evaporated when he saw the ragged state they were in, with Narumi and one clone carrying Sasuke and Hinata on their backs.

"Narumi! Sasuke! Hinata! What happened to you guys?"

"Sensei…" Sasuke and Hinata groaned out in pain.

Narumi put them down, and they wobbled to stay on their feet.

"Nii-chan!" Narumi shouted as she jumped into her brother's arms and began to sob. "I-it was so terrible!"

The other teams below noted the ragged state of Team 7, with Narumi crying in Naruto's arms and the other two barely staying on their feet. It appeared that they would be easy pickings, which brought a smile on most of their competitors, save for a few.

"Narumi, calm down and tell me what happened." Naruto told his sister, trying to assess what happened as he looked over his team.

Narumi nodded and took a few breaths.

"Th-there was this crazy girl from Kusa who was so so strong! She beat all three of us by h-herself!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. 'How is that even possible? A single Genin? It would take a high level Chunin, or maybe even a Jonin level shinobi to beat all three of them at the same time with their teamwork…' However, he kept his thoughts to himself and nodded for her to continue.

Narumi continued to speak. "Sh-she was like a slithery whirlwind! And she moved so creepily too! It was like she had no bones! It was so hard for us to guess what she was going to do, because she moved like… like some sort of freak!"

"I couldn't even predict her movements with my Sharingan. I thought she moved a bit like Anko sensei, but she was on a whole other level. At times she felt more like a snake than a human, and she sure bit like one." Sasuke added as he unconsciously rubbed the area of the bite.

Naruto noticed the strange seal on his neck, and immediately saw the connection it had to Anko's own.

"…This is…"

He was interrupted mid speech when Hayate clapped to get their attention.

"Alright everyone. Those of you who have just entered can come down to the arena now. I have things to announce, and I don't like to yell."

"B-but we just got here! Can't we get a moment to catch our breaths?" Sakura asked.

"Unfortunately, you may not. If you wanted time to rest and recover, you should have come sooner. That is the privilege they get for completing the test early, and that is the penalty you get for coming in at the last second. Now come down here before I disqualify all of you." Hayate replied.

The rookie Genin grumbled as they headed down, complaining about things being unfair.

Naruto stopped his team briefly to make sure they were capable of continuing.

"Are you all ok? Will you be able to continue?" Naruto asked.

They all nodded their heads.

"Alright. Let me know if anything feels wrong. I can see that somebody, probably Narumi took some sort of measures to restrict those seals on your necks, but I'm gonna keep an eye out on you guys. We'll need talk about this further later." Naruto told his team before they joined the other Genin in the Arena.

Hayate coughed lightly into his fist before speaking. "First of all, congratulations on completing the second stage of the Chunin Exams. I know it wasn't an easy task. However, more of you made it out than we expected."

The Genin looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what he meant. Less than half of the Genin who entered had made it through. Too many of them made it through? What was he talking about?

"Why don't I explain?" Hiruzen suggested, as he stepped forward. Hayate nodded and yielded the floor.

"Before we move on, I believe I should explain the true meaning of the Chunin Exams to you." Hiruzen began.

"Isn't it to select the next batch of promising Chunin?" Kankuro asked.

Hiruzen nodded but continued to speak. "While that is true, there is more to it. You see, the Chunin Exams is also a replacement for war amongst allied villages."

"War?" Many of the Genins questioned.

"The nature of shinobi villages means that there are bound to be disagreements. These Exams are one way to get rid of bad blood between villages without going to war, with competition between Genin replacing the battles. However, there is also another aspect of the Exams that simulates war."

"The spoils of war?" Shikamaru guessed out loud, and Hiruzen nodded in confirmation.

"Absolutely correct. You see, every time there is a war, the hierarchy between the villages goes through a shift. Whoever wins the war wins prestige and power."

"What do you mean?" Narumi asked in confusion.

"A village that is able to showcase Genin with impressive talent or skill, or even win the whole Chunin Exams will be able to show the world what they have to offer, creating more demand, or more jobs and missions for their own shinobi." Hiruzen explained.

"So, we're like some sort of advertisement?" Narumi questioned.

Hiruzen nodded. "That is certainly one aspect of the Exams. The Genin are the future of any village, and as representatives of your respective villages, how you perform will be seen as indicators of the future of your villages."

The Genin let that sink in, now realizing that the Chunin Exams were much bigger than a simple test for advancement.

The Hokage saw that his message had the intended effect and stepped back to let the proctor take over in further explanation.

"The next round and last stage of the Chunin Exams is the tournament. As you are now aware, there will be spectators that will come from all over, a diverse group ranging from nearby villagers to Daimyo of different nations who will come to see the fights for entertainment, but also to see what each village has to offer. As such, we can't drag it out with too many battles." Hayate explained.

"So, you'll narrow down our numbers before we get to that stage." Shikamaru asked in a way that sounded more like a declaration.

Hayate nodded. "Exactly. We'll be having a preliminary tournament right here to select the best of the best to be represented in the tournament."

The Genin's eyes widened, as they looked around to see their competition, wondering who they'd be matched up against as they sized everyone up.

Meanwhile, Naruto was deep in thought, extremely disturbed by what he heard from his team, and what implications it might have.

'One Genin taking all three of them out? That's not likely. Not at all. It looks like they've been absolutely dismantled, but none of them died. That requires a much higher degree of skill than to just outright kill them. But what are they trying to achieve?'

He looked at the Genin in the Arena below and didn't notice anyone who fit the description his Genin gave him.

'Someone so strong didn't even make it to this stage? Now if that's not suspicious, I don't know what is.'

His mind then turned to the marks he saw on Sasuke and Hinata's necks.

'There's no doubt those seals are the same kind of cursed seals that Anko has on her neck. A slightly different version, but the same hallmarks are there. This can only mean one thing…'

Trouble was brewing, and his students were somehow involved. He had to figure out what was going on and quickly too.

'What are you planning, you slithery bastard…'

Meanwhile, Hayate reached into a basket held by the Chunin who had gotten on the bad sides of the three Jonin sensei of the rookie teams. "We'll be picking out two random names from this basket to pick out the matchups." Hayate announced.

After mixing up the folded papers with the names inside for a while, he pulled up two names.

"The first match will be… Gaara of Suna and Yakushi Kabuto of Konoha."

Silence fell over the room as all eyes fell on the two Genin.

The other Genin began to go up to the viewing deck that ringed the arena, leaving the two Genin alone with Hayate.


Kabuto vs Gaara

"Alright, before we begin the matches, let me introduce myself and explain the rules." Hayate began.

The Genin above on the viewing deck craned their necks closer to hear what he was saying.

"I am Gekko Hayate, the proctor for the preliminary matches. And here's the first and most important rule you should remember: Always listen to the proctor. If I say stop, it means stop. Failure to comply will result in disqualification. Other than that, there are no rules for the fight itself. You may use any tools or jutsu at your disposal to defeat the opponent."

Gaara gave a small smirk. "And death is permitted?"

All the Genin felt a small shiver crawling up their spines at his ominous question.

Hayate nodded. "Killing your opponent isn't grounds for disqualification. However, if the proctor judges the fight to be over and you continue to attack and kill the opponent, you will be disqualified."

Sakura and Ino gulped in fear as they looked at the small redhead from Suna. What kind of psychopaths were in this competition anyway?

"The fight will end when the proctor decides one side has won, if one of the contestants dies or is incapacitated, or if someone forfeits, which they may do at any point."

"Can they forfeit now?" Kabuto asked.

Hayate nodded. "Certainly."

"In that case, I choose to forfeit." Kabuto announced.

Gasps broke out from all over the room. Everyone was shocked that Kabuto forfeited. How could you get this far and give up without even trying?

"A-are you sure you don't want to at least try before giving up, Kabuto-san?" Sakura asked.

Kabuto shook his head. "I'm already in bad condition from the second stage, and I'm not so keen to be in a fight to the death with some bloodthirsty kid. I'll pass and try again in the future when I'm in better shape."

"With the forfeit from Yakushi Kabuto, the winner of this match is automatically Gaara of Suna." Hayate announced. "We'll move on to the next fight immediately."

Gaara gave a furious glare to the back of Kabuto's head as he retreated before he reluctantly went up to the viewing deck himself. He had been so excited to shed some blood and that fool decided to forfeit? How dare he deny him of his blood!

Murmurs broke out all over the room, the atmosphere of the room only becoming more uncomfortable with the disappointing start of the preliminaries.

Many eyes were on Kabuto, giving him a look of disappointment and confusion, but nobody gave much thought to Shikamaru's lazy glance at Kabuto.

To most people, it appeared like Shikamaru was disinterested as always, but in his own head, he was coming up with all kinds of scenarios to explain what had just happened. He didn't buy Kabuto's excuse in the slightest. He couldn't quite come up with an acceptable theory yet, but he couldn't help but be extremely suspicious of this mysterious Genin who had now failed the Exam for the 8th time. The suspicion he had of Kabuto from the beginning of the Exams continued to grow.

"Alright. Next up is Temari of Suna and Yamanaka Ino!" Hayate called out next.


Temari vs Ino

Ino nervously sauntered down to the arena, where Temari was awaiting her with a confident smirk.

Ino tried to hide her nervousness and fake some confidence, but this older kunoichi was exuding a confident and dangerous aura that was clearly stemming from experience. She had remembered reading on Kabuto's profile cards that she was on the same team as Gaara and was probably someone to watch out for.

"Heh, scared yet blondie?" Temari taunted.

"Hey! You're a blondie too, stupid!" Ino shouted back.

Temari smirked. "We may both be blondes, but I'll show you that one of us is a real kunoichi, while the other is a little girl who's more interested in fashion than actually being competent."

Ino was furious at her accusations. She had been training hard with Asuma for months and weeks, trying to overcome her own shortcomings, but this girl had the audacity to just disregard all that and assume she was more interested in fashion? Her nervousness was now replaced by anger. She wanted to show this girl just exactly what she was made of.

"Just because I'm prettier than you doesn't mean I'm only interested in fashion, you dusty fan girl! I'll show you what I'm capable of so you can shove it up yours!" She shouted furiously.

Hayate saw that the two girls were already at each other's throats so he decided to start the fight.

As soon as he began the fight, Ino pulled out two kunai and sprinted for Temari.

'She's definitely a long-distance fighter if her weapon says anything about her fighting style.' Ino thought to herself as she held the kunai in reverse grip, like Asuma often did with his trench knives. 'Then I'm going to go swarm her up close! Here's my chance to try out some of the things sensei taught me about closer-range fighting! And maybe I could trick her into thinking I'm a close-range fighter so when I set up my Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Technique), she'll be caught off-guard!'

Temari pulled the fan from her back but had no time to deploy it against Ino before she fell upon her.

"I can tell you're a long-distance fighter based on your fan, but I'm not gonna give you a chance to open that up!" Ino declared as she swung at Temari with a ferocity and tenacity that surprised a lot of the people watching.

"Man, when did Ino get so aggressive?" Narumi wondered out loud, mirroring Sakura's thoughts as well.

Temari dodged a couple of the strikes before she blocked the next one with her fan.

"I don't even need to open my fan up to deal with the likes of you."

She then surprised Ino when she counter attacked, using the fan like a staff to redirect one of her strikes, then to rapidly use the other end to jab Ino in the stomach.

Ino jumped backwards to catch her breath after having it knocked out of her by Temari's attack.

"Your pitiful attacks won't work on me! If you think all I can do is fight at a distance, you're dead wrong." Temari told Ino.

"However, I still do prefer it. Why don't I show you why?"

Ino knew she couldn't afford to let Temari get to her comfortable range, so she tried to run back at Temari.

However, Temari had already opened up her fan a third of the way.

Temari swung her fan at the oncoming Ino, and a powerful gust of wind blew Ino away, slamming her into the wall with such force that her vision became blurry.

"Wh-what the heck? Was that a jutsu? How did she make such a strong gust of wind?" Narumi asked out loud.

"How did she do that sensei?" Sakura asked Kurenai. "It was like a jutsu, but she didn't use any hand signs!"

"She is using a tessen, or iron fan, as a ninja tool to channel her wind chakra. Suna is famous for wind jutsu users, but she's able to use her fan to use wind jutsu without hand signs, which can allow her to attack significantly faster." Kurenai explained.

"And in a world where the few seconds you need to make hand seals can mean the difference between life or death, ninja tools like that could be a game changer." Asuma added as he frowned watching Ino pick herself back up and stumble back to her feet.

Ino swayed back and forth, trying her hardest to reorient her balance, but she was struggling to even stay on her feet. She was pretty sure she had at least a minor concussion.

Still, she couldn't give up so easily. She wanted to make her sensei proud. And looking bad in front of Sasuke was another thing she wanted to avoid.

'Screw it, I guess I'll risk it and try now, rather than being eliminated without even trying.' Ino thought to herself as she gathered her hands in the hand seal for her clan's famous jutsu.

Temari didn't know what Ino was doing with her hands and wondered if Ino was just trying to keep her balance. It sure didn't look like any hand seal she had seen before.

Still, she wasn't that interested in finding out and didn't want to drag this fight out longer for some random Genin anyway.

"I'm done wasting time with you. Be gone, brat." Temari swung her fan again, and Ino was sent flying into the wall again.

The Konoha Genin watching winced when they saw Ino crunch against the wall before she slumped over and fell on her face.

"The winner of Match 2 by knockout is: Temari of Suna!" Hayate announced.

The medics immediately came after his announcement and took her away to the infirmary.

Asuma sighed as he pulled out a cigarette. "Damn it. Why did she have to match up against that girl out of all people?"

Narumi glared at Temari, who smirked at Ino's angry friends before she walked back up to join her siblings.

She'd get revenge for her friend if she ever faced her, Narumi vowed.

"The next match is: Uchiha Sasuke, and Kinuta Dosu!" Hayate announced.


Sasuke vs Dosu

All eyes fell on Sasuke, one of the last, and the youngest of the Uchiha shinobi left in Konoha. They were interested to see what he was capable of.

Dosu was unable to stop himself from smiling, even though his bandages hid it from everyone.

'What luck! Now I have the perfect opportunity to complete my mission!' He was thrilled to have the perfect excuse to kill him without any repercussion. He'd make up for his past failure now.

Sasuke eyed Dosu, who he spotted staring at him. He had heard from his friends that Dosu and his team had tried to kill him while he was unconscious. He was determined to pay back the favor and teach him a lesson and also show the whole world what Uchiha Sasuke was capable of.

Naruto watched Sasuke with concern as he wobbled down to the arena on unsteady legs. Not only was Sasuke in terrible condition right now, but Naruto was also worried about the cursed seal he saw on his neck, and how it would affect him during the fight.

Hayate looked at the two fighters to make sure they were ready.

He looked over at Sasuke, who looked like he was about to collapse already.

"You sure you want to continue?" Hayate asked.

Sasuke nodded, his eyes showing a fierce determination which contrasted greatly from his condition.

Hayate noticed and decided to let him continue.

"Well, if that's the case. Let the match BEGIN!"

As soon as Hayate jumped away, Dosu threw several kunai towards Sasuke's direction to test out Sasuke's condition and reflexes.

Even though he felt like he would collapse any second, Sasuke quickly moved, driven almost purely by willpower, and threw his own salvo of kunai, which knocked Dosu's out of their intended trajectory.

Dosu looked at Sasuke, who was panting from the spurt of energy he used to deflect Dosu's kunai.

"Impressive. You were able to not only perceive and track the movement of all my kunai, but also knock them all out of the air? I can see you possess quite the level of skill."

Sasuke didn't reply, breathing hard as he prepared himself for whatever attack Dosu had planned next.

"However, I can also see that you're exhausted. You're nowhere near your usual condition. Which is both a terrifying thought, and a welcome one. Still, I'd say that's an advantage I'll thoroughly enjoy."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, knowing that Dosu was right. It felt like he would collapse and go unconscious immediately if he only closed his eyes for a few seconds. The wound he had gotten on his arm from the Kusa kunoichi was throbbing and hindered him further, but he showed no signs of pain in an effort to not give away even more weaknesses to his enemy.

Dosu charged at Sasuke and began a battle of taijutsu.

Despite his appearance, where his hunched back and arms dangling in front of him with long sleeves suggested sluggish movement, Dosu surprised everyone with his proficiency in close-range combat.

Sasuke impressed Dosu by still being able to mostly keep up with him in his weakened state, but the effects of his injuries and fatigue were still undeniable. Sasuke ate several punches on his face and stomach before a front kick on his chest from Dosu sent him falling on his back.

Sakura nervously watched Sasuke fight Dosu, as the older boy seemed to dominate him. She had never seen Sasuke not have the upper hand in a fight before, and even though she had found him injured which implied a loss, it was still shocking to see him losing in a fight in person.

Narumi gripped the railing of the viewing deck as she watched the fight with anxiety. She had heard the boy had tried to kill them before, and she felt like Dosu wasn't done trying.

Dosu smirked under his bandages as Sasuke got up from the ground with great effort.

"I think I got a good enough feel of what you're capable of now. Why don't I stop wasting our time and finish this now?"

Sasuke glared at Dosu as he breathed out labored breaths. He was so frustrated with how the fight was going, and how unresponsive his body was being. He had gauged Dosu's ability the same way Dosu had gauged his, and he knew that he could beat Dosu if he was in good condition. However, that wasn't the current circumstance, and that was what mattered right now.

He needed something extra to give him a chance of winning this fight, so he decided to try to activate his Sharingan.

His onyx eyes flashed red and three tomoe began to circle around his pupils for a brief second, before searing pain from his neck forced him to deactivate it instantly and fall to his knees.

Dosu took advantage of this moment and ran at Sasuke.

A punch flew towards Sasuke, and Sasuke tried to dodge by tilting his body to his left.

However, as soon as he had dodged Dosu's punch, he remembered what had happened to Kabuto at the start of the Exams, and he felt extreme nausea and dizziness in the same way, taking damage to his inner ear from Dosu's soundwave attack. He collapsed onto his hands and knees and threw up.

Dosu didn't waste a moment, turning right around and delivering a devastating kick to Sasuke's exposed ribs.

Sasuke flew into the wall and grunted in pain as he clutched his side. He was sure he had at least one broken rib.

'Shit! That hurts so fucking much!' He swore in his mind. 'I definitely broke a rib or two there. It hurts to just move.'

Sasuke was absolutely furious that he was being humiliated in this way. 'If I was healthy, I would have killed him in a couple minutes.'

As he struggled to his feet, he fell to one knee, as his balance was completely shot from the damage he took to his eardrum from Dosu's soundwave attack.

He watched Dosu come at him for a follow through attack, and his mind couldn't help but go back to the dream he had while he was unconscious.


Flashback

Sasuke looked around him and saw nothing but darkness around him. No, that wasn't a good description. It wasn't like he couldn't see anything around him like when it was night. It was more like there was an abundance of… a dark color? It wasn't quite black and it wasn't quite navy though. It was more like… just emptiness.

'What is going on here? How did I get here? Last thing I remember is… fighting that Kusa kunoichi…'

He was broken out of his thoughts when he was surprised by a voice that seemed to come from all directions around him.

"Kukuku… welcome Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke looked around in panic trying to find the source of the voice, putting his guard up immediately.

He reached for a kunai but found none, but also found that none of his injuries were there either.

"My my, no need to be so aggressive! I'm just here to talk." The voice spoke out.

"Who are you! Where is this? What do you want from me?!" Sasuke shouted out.

"Kukuku… I suppose the closest thing I can describe this place as would be… your mind." The voice replied.

What was he talking about? Why was his mind so empty? This could maybe be Narumi's mind, but this definitely did not look like what he imagined his mind would look like.

"My mind?" Sasuke asked.

"Something close to that. And as for who I am?"

Sasuke felt a presence, so he quickly turned to face the presence. He saw a pale white man with long black hair slowly appearing from a short distance away.

Sasuke was a little unsettled by the man's appearance. Sasuke himself was on the pale side, but this man was almost pure white, as if he had no blood running through his veins, and his yellow, snake-like eyes seemed unnatural as well. But the thing that scared him the most was his uncanny resemblance to the Kusa kunoichi he had been fighting, before a bite from her knocked him unconscious.

"Wh-who are you?" Sasuke asked, his voice breaking despite his best efforts to appear brave.

"Kukuku… who I am isn't important. What's important is what I can offer."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "And what are you offering me?"

His question made the snake-like man smile, but the uncanny smile made him feel more nervous rather than make him feel at ease.

"Power."

"Power?" Sasuke asked. That was completely out of nowhere. "What?"

"I know you seek power. Power to be strong enough to protect what is dearest to you. Power to kill those who robbed you of what was precious to you. Power to get revenge. I can give you that power."

The shadiness of the man and the sudden, unsolicited offer of power were immediate red flags for Sasuke. This offer felt about as desirable and enticing as an offer from a stranger offering candy to children under a bridge.

"Yeah… no thank you. I already have a sensei for that, and I'll get there on my own." Sasuke replied.

"Kukuku… so you think your sensei is already doing a good enough job, eh? Then why were you so easily defeated? This is the level of power you wanted? You think this is enough to kill Itachi?"

Sasuke was now completely suspicious about the man's intent and identity. How did he know of his former, and maybe slightly present, desire to kill his brother, and what did he know of Itachi?

"What do you know of Itachi? What do you want from me?" Sasuke asked angrily in a low voice.

"I know enough. Enough to know that you'll never be on his level at this rate. He was already a Jonin level shinobi at your age."

Sasuke bristled at the strange man's response. That was a sore spot for Sasuke, who always wanted to escape his brother's shadow.

"Well, it doesn't matter how fast you get there. It only matters how ready you are when you're there." Sasuke told the man, quoting words from his sensei. "I'll surpass my brother in my own way."

"Kukuku… what foolishness. Do you think if you get strong quickly, you won't be ready? You can get more ready if you can do it quickly. The more you waste time, the bigger the gap grows between you and your brother. Do you think he's waiting around for you to catch up? It's clear your team is holding you back, and your sensei is distracting you from your goals with his misguided ideals. You'll never get your revenge this way. Accept my help and the power I offer you, and I'll help you become more powerful than you can imagine."

"There's more to my life than just revenge!" Sasuke shouted back. "The team and sensei you say are holding me back are more important than any stupid plans of revenge! I'm not going to let down my friends, family, and clan by falling into that darkness!"

The man chuckled as he began to fade away. "Have it your way then. We'll see how long you think that way. Just remember that there's power beyond your imagination available to you. Reach out and take it. Experience it and tell me you don't like it. Tell me you don't want more of it. I'll be back again to see what you think…"

Sasuke stood standing where he stood as he watched the man vanish as suddenly as he appeared. He didn't know what the heck the man was on about, but he knew he wanted to have nothing to do with him.

Flashback end


Sasuke remembered the snake-like man's words about a power available to him. He started to wonder if the man had a point. Maybe he could use some extra power and still stick to his own ideals?

There wasn't much time to think about it though, as Dosu was upon him now.

"Looking a little lost there, Uchiha brat! Keep spacing out if you want to make my job easier!" Dosu yelled out as he brought down a kunai on Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't have time to dodge, so he tried to grab Dosu's hand to stop his attack.

Though he was able to successfully grab Dosu's arm holding the kunai, his tired state meant he wasn't strong enough to keep it away from him when Dosu used his other arm to help his caught arm plunge the kunai into Sasuke's upper chest.

The rookie teams on the viewing deck gasped in unison when they saw the kunai pierce Sasuke between his chest and collar.

Naruto clenched his fist nervously.

Sasuke used both arms to prevent the kunai from penetrating all the way, knowing that would kill him. Though the pain was immense, he used all of his strength to keep the kunai only a couple centimeters deep.

'Shit! If I don't come up with something now, it's all over!' Sasuke thought in despair, when a voice began to whisper in his mind.

'Use the power I gave you… Let your emotions guide you… Kill your enemies! Show them the true power of rage and hatred!'

Sasuke wasn't sure what that was all about, but he decided to listen to the voice for now, as he didn't have many other options.

He began to channel his rage and hatred and started to feel a burning sensation from the mark on his neck.

However, rather than incapacitating him, that burning sensation seemed to fill him with power as it spread throughout his body. Soon, he couldn't even feel the pain or fatigue that had been plaguing him through this entire fight.

He felt a strange chakra flowing through him. Though it felt weird, and a little off, it also made him feel powerful and reinvigorated.

He immediately looked up to meet Dosu's eyes and activated his Sharingan.

Dosu was thrown off by Sasuke's sudden burst of strength, and by the strange black marks that began to cover half of his face, before the sight of the Sharingan drowned out everything else.

He immediately let go of Sasuke and stumbled back, stunned by the Sharingan which seemed to stare into his soul.

Sasuke stood up and plucked the kunai out of his chest, not taking his eyes off of Dosu.

The crowd watched in surprise as Dosu suddenly backed off from a fight he was winning and looked dazed.

Sasuke used this opening to open his kunai pouch and threw a barrage of kunai at Dosu.

Dosu snapped back to attention just in time to deflect the projectiles to his left and right with his melody arm and a kunai he drew with his other hand.

The kunai were just a distraction though, as Sasuke used an incredible burst of speed that no one had seen from him before to close the gap between him and Dosu, and engaged Dosu in taijutsu, mirroring the opening of the fight, except he was the aggressor this time.

Dosu was hard-pressed, slowly being pushed back without being able to complete a single strike against Sasuke, who used the intercepting fist style of the Uchiha and his fully matured Sharingan to deadly effect to stop all of Dosu's attacks in their tracks.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he watched Sasuke. It seemed like the curse mark was powering him and blocking out the pain, enabling him to fight at a higher capacity than usual. However, he knew that the man who gave the curse mark wasn't known to give out free gifts and knew there would be something more behind it. He kept his thoughts to himself but kept a close eye on Sasuke and prepared himself to move in case anything happened.

'What the fuck is going on? That looks like the effects of the cursed seals that Orochimaru-sama gives to his trusted shinobi! Why does this Uchiha bastard have one?' Dosu thought as Sasuke continued to humiliate him by completely dominating him.

Sasuke smirked seeing the fear in Dosu's eyes, before he decided to use some moves he copied from watching Hinata's fight against the Kusa kunoichi. He feinted with a punch before he used his Sharingan to cast a genjutsu.

Dosu froze for a second once again when the image of two massive Sharingan that hung over him like two moons seemed to burn into his mind as it peered into his soul again.

Sasuke smirked as he extended the first joints of his index and middle fingers from his fist to rapidly jab Dosu in several pressure points and nerve clusters on one of his thighs.

Dosu's leg went limp immediately, and Dosu collapsed onto one knee.

Sasuke quickly backflipped backwards to gain some space behind him, weaving hand seals as he did so.

"I'll teach you a lesson for trying to kill me when I was unconscious! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! (Fire release: Grand Fireball Technique)"

Sasuke landed on his feet and puffed up his chest before breathing out a massive fireball that was larger than any he had ever created before.

Dosu's eyes widened as he tried to evade, but his numb leg and the enormous fireball which spanned at least 10 meters meant he was powerless to do anything to avoid the massive ball of fire that threatened to roast him alive.

Dosu understood at this moment what had happened. He had been betrayed by his own master.

"Damn you Orochima-!"

His screams were drowned out by the fire, as the massive fireball burned up all the oxygen in his lungs when it exploded on him.

Many of the Genin turned their heads around to shield their faces from the inferno, while the Jonin looked on in shock at the sheer power of the jutsu from a Genin.

Hayate waited for the fire and smoke to dissipate before he announced anything, but he was already sure the fight was done. The question he was wondering was if the Sound Genin was merely severely burned with permanent injuries or if he was dead.

He wasn't quite sure of which of the two options was correct when the smoke had dissipated, and he finally saw the boy.

The rookie Genin of Konoha gagged when they saw how the Sound Genin had all of his clothes burned off and had received such severe burns that his skin resembled tree bark, with subdermal fat and even bone being exposed in some parts. His lips and eyelids had shriveled up and pulled tight around his mouth and eyes, keeping his teeth and eyeballs exposed, which made him look like he had been flayed.

There was silence for a couple seconds before it was broken by Hayate's soft coughing.

"The winner of this match is Uchiha Sasuke by… knockout."

Sasuke smirked as he stood over his immolated opponent.

The way he had dominated him and absolutely destroyed him felt good. It was empowering. The thrill and rush of being filled with overwhelming power as he tore his opponent apart was simply amazing. He loved the feeling of it and couldn't wait to feel it again.

Naruto watched the smallest bit of an unhinged smile form on Sasuke's face before he called out to him.

"Good fight. Now come over here and get some rest."

Sasuke turned his head to see the voice and saw his sensei looking grim.

Was that all he had to say? Wasn't he going to acknowledge his power? Wasn't he going to praise him more?

He was starting to get angry. Why wasn't he looking happier that his student won? Did he want him to lose or something?

Then the snake-man's words began to ring in his ear. Maybe his sensei was actually trying to hold him back after all. Maybe he just-

Sasuke shook his head. What the hell was that? Why was he starting to think these crazy thoughts?

'It must be from the adrenaline from the fight and the fatigue. I need to get some rest like Naruto-sensei said.' Sasuke thought to himself as he let the curse mark recede before he turned to walk up to the deck.

However, as soon as the curse mark receded, Sasuke felt an immense pain and fatigue rushing over him. He wasn't even able to scream as his eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

The last thing he registered before he went unconscious was his sensei catching him before he hit the ground.


*Author's Note*

And that was the latest chapter of the Jinchuuriki's brother! How was it? Hope you guys liked it!

So, to address the elephant in the room, yes I was gone for a while. I was busy with work, sometimes barely sleeping 3 hours a night. Basically, I had no time to write. But I'm done with that now, and I'm back to a more normal schedule. Sorry for the long wait though! I know some of you may have thought the story was abandoned, but it definitely isn't and won't be! I'm too invested in the story to abandon it, and I'm just starting to get to the parts I really wanted to write.

So I know we've all read the Chunin Exam fights a million times and all the variations of them. I know it can get boring but it's still a big part of this arc and story, and a good stage to show what the characters are capable of, so bear with me. I still tried to make it a little more interesting though and changed up the match ups with a randomizer. I hope you guys like the changes I've made!

Anyway, thanks for waiting patiently and for supporting the story so far. I hope you guys enjoyed the latest chapter! Please leave a review or comment if you have anything to say about it!

Hope you guys all stay safe and have a great day! Until next time!