::Sorry for the delay! I was struggling with end-of-the-semester stuff and how the heck to write this chapter without making it cheesy. For what it's worth, gomen::
Naruto and Sasuke stood in the arena facing each other. Naruto had his arms crossed and a kunai in his right hand. Sasuke's hand hovered over his weapon's pouch. They measured each other up and waited tensely as Naruto's father announced the fight. Far above the arena floor, Orochimaru and his best student, Kimimaro, watched. Kimimaro looked at the dark head below, then cast a sideways glance at his master. Sensei wants this Sasuke's sharingan? He's weaker than I am! What a let-down… The people here have amazing chakra, but few use it. They're too scared to use it…
Orochimaru grinned. That power will be mine.
Down on the floor, Uzu Suzaku jumped back and said, "Begin!" Neither boy moved an inch. Their eyes bored into one another's heads. Naruto moved first, his lip turning up in a smirk before he shifted and faded from sight. Sasuke gasped and activated his sharingan. It looked like Naruto hadn't used any seals, so how did he manage to cast a genjutsu? He caught a flicker of movement over his left shoulder and turned. Naruto slammed into the ground. Sasuke drew out a kunai to strike Naruto, but the blond didn't stop and leapt away, vanishing in a blur once more.
Naruto kept moving, his smile getting wider as his feet beat the ground. Using genjutsu to turn invisible when moving fast enough did the same trick didn't make sense when fighting another chuunin. Against Kakashi sensei he didn't think it would work, but with Sasuke it seemed to. The sharingan picks up on jutsu, so I won't use obvious jutsu. He used chakra to move faster, and his body protested moving so fast, but he had skill with pushing himself. There! He shoved off the wall and kicked Sasuke in the back.
The Uchiha soared through the air, then turned into a puddle of water. Naruto cursed and stopped. Moving so fast also hindered his sight, so he'd missed Sasuke's water-cloning jutsu. He almost missed Sasuke's next attack, but sensed the other boy's presence in time to leap out of the way of a giant fireball. The heat stirred his spiky hair and he cast a look in the direction of the attack's origin. Sasuke was still in the casting pose. Naruto threw his kunai at him. Sasuke caught it between two fingers and the crowd 'oo'ed. Sasuke returned the kunai and Naruto evaded it. Both boys now faced off once more.
Sasuke moved first this time. He brought his hands behind his back and the crowd started whispering. Sasuke was forming seals behind his back. Naruto was puzzled by this. What jutsu could he know so well that just seeing the seals would give it away? Then Sasuke cried out "Kage bunshin no justsu!" Naruto, Kurai, Sakura, and Kakashi gaped as two other Sasukes appeared. Naruto was stunned, but as the clones and Sasuke attacked he broke out of his stupor and performed a handful of seals.
"…." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Naruto hadn't shouted his attack prominently as he usually did. Then Naruto performed his own kage bunshin no jutsu and the two clones attacked with him. It was an awe-inspiring sight. Six boys on the arena floor were duking it out in fine form. Their movements were almost too fast for most of the spectators to see, limiting the entertainment value a hint.
Then Naruto's clones jumped back and performed the same seals Naruto had before making them. They jumped at Naruto where he and Sasuke were fighting. Sasuke kicked Naruto in the chest and the blond fell back into his own clones. Instead of disappearing the clones seemed to merge with Naruto. When he landed he straightened slowly. Sasuke didn't like the looks of this. His clones jumped at Naruto.
The clones disappeared when they touched the spiky blond hair. Naruto looked at Sasuke with a ready smirk and crouched. "Come on, Sasuke. I'm just getting started!" Sasuke was tempted to back away and try to form a better plan, but he also wanted to make sure the people watching realized he was a far better ninja than Naruto. He couldn't let the baka show him up.
Sasuke crouched and launched himself at Naruto. Naruto remained still. He can't hurt me with just his hands anymore. My clones have made me an unbreakable armor, Naruto thought confidently. Too late he saw the glow around Sasuke's fist. Shit!!! He tried to evade at the last second, but Sasuke had him. The glowing fist connected with Naruto's head and the blond flew back into the wall, making a deep depression.
The crowd cheered. Kurai grumbled about the fickle mob for a moment before rising to her feet and applauding. Kakashi grinned behind his mask and Sakura cheered loudly, a single, overly excited, pink electron in the crowd. "Yay, Sasuke-kun!" she shrieked.
Down below, Sasuke winced. That girl could get pretty annoying. Then he saw Naruto's father emerging and watched as the medics set Naruto on a stretcher and took him away. Suzaku came over and patted Sasuke on the head. The dark-hared shinobi glared. Suzaku chuckled. "Well, Boy, true to the rules of the tournament, you may now choose a nin from the village to fight."
Sasuke knew exactly who he wanted to fight. "Kurai." Suzaku arched an eyebrow and turned to the stands. "Our winner has picked an opponent!" Big cheer. "Kurai! Get your butt down here, Girl!" Louder cheer.
Up in the stands Kurai sighed and got to her feet. Kakashi eyed her with a degree of worry. "Don't over-do it, Kurai," he warned. She bent over and gave him a chaste kiss.
"I'll quite if I must. Don't worry." She descended the steps to the edge of the stands and jumped. She didn't make it to the arena floor.
Gasps and a collection of boos came from the crowd at the sight of the man who'd caught Kurai in mid-air and landed carrying her bridal style. Sasuke, Kakashi, and Sakura stared. Orochimaru turned and grinned at Suzaku. "You didn't think that by denying me one of your children fourteen years ago that I would give up?" Kurai looked like a limp rag doll, her arms hanging straight down and her eyes blank. Orochimaru laughed and met Kakashi's eye. "And thank-you for giving me this opportunity. If it weren't for your hot blood, I would've had to wait longer…" He dodged an attack from Sasuke and looked at the boy in disappointment.
"Give her back," Sasuke said coldly. Orochimaru gave one of hhis creepy smiles and looked up.
"Kimimaro, you've wanted a fight." The boy leapt down and Sasuke stiffened. This guy was strong, and his killing intent rolled off him in waves that seemed to color the air and bring the temperature down a few degrees. Suzaku jumped at Orochimaru, but the man vanished in a whirl of leaves. Kimimaro grinned at Sasuke and before the boy could do anything, Kimimaro was right in his face.
"I would've liked to fight you before you exhausted yourself… You remind me of how I used to be." Then he punched Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke's eyes went wide, the red fading back to black as blood dripped into the grass below him. Kimimaro vanished and Sasuke fell to his knees. Kimimaro had stabbed him with some kind of claw. Kakashi leapt down and caught Sasuke as he fell.
"Take it easy, Sasuke." Kakashi looked up at Suzaku. "I'll go after him." He laid Sasuke on the ground and vanished. Suzaku turned and started shouting orders as medics came to pick Sasuke up. Orochimaru…You and I have unfinished business. Suzaku left the arena heading back home. This was something he had to share with his wife and he didn't doubt for a second that she would want to give chase.
After all, it was Orochimaru who had taken Naruto.
::A thousand apologies for the short chapter! I will do better next time, promise! And I keep my promises. Review and tell me what you think, please::