-1Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto. 'Nuff said.
Rated K+ for some slight graphic content
Through These Crimson Eyes
Chapter Three - Sharingan Versus a Demon…?
The speed in which the two attacked was blinding. Itachi's movements…the kicks, his punches, his dodges, everything was completely fluid. Arami was just as fast, blocking Itachi's first kick and narrowly dodging the fist that came within an inch of his face. The two fought on.
The other participants were impressed, to say the least.
"How did he do that..!" One genin whispered in awe, while the person next to him shrugged.
"I don't know, but I can barely keep up. My money's on the kid with the black hair…they say he's an Uchiha."
His friend gaped in awe.
"So he possesses…"
The blurred sphere of movement that was the battle between Itachi and Arami came to a halt as the two lept away from each other and landed softly on the ground beneath.
He's fast enough to keep up with me…but he knows I'm not pushing it. And I know he isn't, either…this is going to prove to be quite a challenge.
The two simply stared at each other for a split second. They both had no sign of injury…they had either blocked or evaded each other's attacks completely.
A quartet of shuriken sped past Arami in a blur, who had seen them coming but did not react. They stuck to the wall behind him, and he risked a glance back…he couldn't be sure about this kid, he might have rigged the shuriken with exploding tags or something.
His momentary distraction was enough for Itachi. Arami reverted his gaze back to Itachi…
Only to find him standing right before his very eyes, glaring back into them with his sharing an activated.
Arami's eyes widened, the first sign of surprise thus far.
"Never turn your back on me." Itachi whispered in a cold, empathetic manner, then swiftly punched him in the gut.
…Itachi jumped backwards right before the flames of the impending explosion engulfed him whole.
He grinned as he landed, while the onlookers were trying their best to figure out what had happened.
What a guy… Itachi thought, smirking. He had managed to pull of a substitution jutsu in a split second. Not only that, he had somehow rigged the log with exploding tags. Nice.
"You're good, I'll give you that."
Itachi whirled around and kicked, which was blocked by Arami's forearm. He wasted no time in counterattacking, attempting to twist Itachi off of him and into the arm by grabbing his leg and trying to spin him, but Itachi was one step ahead of him. He lifted himself up off the ground and elbowed Arami in the face, knocking him off of him. Arami looked genuinely surprised, as his nose began to bleed. The crowd was cheering now…which was met by Itachi's cold, angry glare.
Why cheer…? Itachi thought in irritation…Arami took this as a distraction and attacked, falling to the ground and trying to get his opponent on the ground via a leg sweep…but the real Itachi was behind him with a kunai above his head in a poof of smoke, as Arami froze in place.
Itachi smirked. Good, but not great.
"This is the end…" He said as he brought the kunai down, though his arm froze before he was able to make contact with his opponent's neck, as he was planning.
…What? He thought, looking down at his arm…it seemed frozen in place, shaking. Genjutsu? Impossible…Itachi was almost invulnerable against illusions, being a master of them himself. So, he was stuck in Arami's jutsu, whatever it was…it had to be ninjutsu, though he had never seen something like this. His eyes flashed…
Arami lept away from him while Itachi's arm hovered in the air. The audience was confused…what had happened?
"So…What is it, genjutsu?"
Arami simply stared.
"Thought so…fine." Itachi said, and his arm stopped trembling. Arami's eyes narrowed.
"But I won't fall for something like that twice."
He stooped down to the ground and sprinted off in Arami's direction with blinding speed, determined not to allow his opponent to catch him off-guard again. Arami took a defensive posture, preparing himself for another dazzling round of hand-to-hand combat…
But Itachi hadn't been planning to fight Arami hand-to-hand, this time.
Arami's eyes widened for the second time thus far…Itachi stood before him, eyes closed. He would have done something, but…he found himself frozen in place.
"You don't know a thing about the sharingan, do you? If so…you should have known…"
His eyes flashed opened, those crimson eyes burning into Arami's soul. He shuddered…genjutsu? He wasn't afraid of this kid…that couldn't be it.
But this seemed a lot like…
…No way!
He looked down at his outstretched arms, palms open, trembling. He was sweating, the liquid running down his body cold and penetrating…this was his jutsu!
"These eyes are rather notorious in that they can copy practically any ninja art…I don't know what you pulled back there, when my arm froze up like that…but now it's mine."
Itachi smirked, but his grin faded a moment later. What was…
Arami stood before him, and Itachi found himself narrowing his eyes at the new appearance of his opponent…what happened? He didn't seem anything like before…
Itachi was barely able to block the punch, and even so, it strained his body to do so. What immense strength…Arami had grown stronger.
Itachi glared into the red-haired ninja's eyes, his own sharingan meeting the eyes of a demon…
"Whoa…he managed to get Arami transformed already?" The blue-haired Zakin whispered, watching the battle with interest. He had just returned to watch the match, which had already been going on for a while when he arrived, and was startled at what he saw…the kid was that strong?
"Harachi…if things get out of hand, I'm out of here." He whispered, shuddering at the memory of the last time Arami had gotten out of hand.
Harachi grinned and chuckled, watching the battle with amusement.
"Incredible…this kid was definitely worth partaking in these pathetic little exams."
Zakin looked at him from the corner of his eye, than returned his attention to the match…would Arami….lose?
"Is there a chance of Arami losing this battle?" Zakin asked, staring intensely at the two ninja in the middle of the ring.
Harachi seemed to consider this for a moment.
"…It seems impossible to imagine such a thing, huh?" He responded after a minute, his eyes narrowing.
"But…when he gets all freaky like this…"
The blonde shuddered.
Itachi's initial surprise subsided, and he now simply glared back at the snarling Arami with indifference. He knew that the guy's chakra had just doubled, if not tripled, but at the moment the two weren't doing anything, and Itachi liked to get things done quick.
"If you won't attack, I wi-
He found himself thrown backwards, blinking at the ceiling. No way…had Arami just attacked him? Even he wasn't that fast…
He slammed into the wall, looked down at the ground for a moment, and than turned his gaze towards the seemingly possessed Arami.
"Shut up…I'll kill you!"
"Wait a minute…"
Hatake Kakashi took notice of the proctor's sudden unease, and glanced towards the ring. Indeed, there was something fishy about that kid…well, both of them, but the red-haired freak's chakra was disturbing, to say the least.
"What is it, Yuri?" He asked in the same, I-don't-really-care tone that he always spoke.
"Arami…Kasagi. Name ring any bells?"
Kakashi thought over the matter for a moment…he definitely couldn't remember ever hearing of the kid before, after pondering it for a moment. He shook his head, nonverbally a "no".
"He contains a demon within him…"
Kakashi was alert this time. A jinchuriki…?
"You don't mean…"
Yuri shook his head as Kakashi had a moment ago, answering his question. Kakashi sighed mentally…so the kid didn't possess the power of a biju. What made him so dangerous, then…? And this chakra…
"Arami Kasagi…Think back to some of your first missions as jounin, Kakasi." Yuri said, narrowing his eyes at the possessed, red-haired nin.
Kakashi's eyes widened.
"He's…"
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Tee hee, nice way to end a chapter, eh? I'll post the next soon. R&R!