Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1.
AN: Full Chapter Title: The Second Stage Is Already Over? The Preliminary Rounds Begin!
"It is a great thing to see so many promising young Shinobi have advanced this far in the Chunin Exams but, regrettably, this number is far too high to advance to the Third Stage." Hiruzen stood before the Genin that had made their way through the Forest of Death. "To lower the numbers, and the matches that will comprise the final stage, preliminaries will be held in this arena."
'This is unfortunate.' Naruto's grin never wavered as he took in the Hokage's words. He disliked the information being dropped on him so suddenly but he was nothing if not adaptable to changes such as these. He and his Legate would not fail, the Orange Legion he had created would not be disgraced. They shall only rise above such a petty and simple challenge and find further glory at the end of the road they traveled on. Their opponents would only know the hollowness of a crushing defeat.
He would accept nothing less from both his Legate and himself.
"Sakura-chan." Naruto drew the pink haired Genin's attention to him as he held out his hand. "To prevent you from wasting your time with trash, I can give you the seal to summon a fragment of my Legion to your side any time you wish. They will certainly prove helpful in dealing with your opponent in the preliminaries."
"I appreciate that Naruto but you don't have to." Sakura gently pushed the offered hand away. "I've been training so that I can take on anything these exams throw at me."
"I insist you rethink that." Naruto returned his hand to its prior place at his side and he glanced towards the screen displaying the fights. Neither his nor his Legate's opponents mattered as they would easily be vanquished but he did somewhat worry for Sakura-chan. "I see that you're going up against Ino…I doubt you will have trouble when it comes to defeating one so reliant on others but it is always best to be certain."
"Teamwork is vital Naruto, you shouldn't insult someone for having it when those three are very effective together." Sakura looked at the screen as well and could only raise a pink eyebrow at one of the matchups that she would definitely be paying attention to.
'Kiba's going up against Shino? I wonder how those two are going to fight each other.'
"Their teamwork fails against the discipline of my magnificent Legion. None shall surpass my power." Naruto turned to Sasuke as the Uchiha took notice of the board and his opponent. "Legate!"
"Praetor." Immediately the Uchiha snapped his eyes over to the Uzumaki and saluted him with a fist over his armored heart. "What do you command of me?"
"I expect an easy victory over someone such as her." Naruto spoke no more as he turned and left the arena.
"Sasuke Uchiha and Kin Tsuchi remain here! The rest of you can wait for your matches above!" Hayate stepped to the center of the arena and briefly coughed into his hands as the armored Konoha Genin and Oto Genin walked up to either side of him. "This match is…"
His words were lost to Naruto as he ignored the sickly looking man.
'Let me see your true skills now Legate. I do not wish to be disappointed in a choice that I was so sure of that day.' Naruto laid a hand on the hilt of his sword as his blue eyes stayed locked on the battle below him. Sakura was at his side and she looked on almost as attentively.
'Please don't die…just get hurt really bad.'
"You should give up now you know." Kin's hands were filled with three senbon each once the Tokubetsu Jonin had begun the match and removed himself from the field. He could be seen standing on the large hands and arms off to the side of the arena. The Genin from Otogakure sneered at the Uchiha who hadn't moved once the match had begun. "I know all your tricks so do-"
"Be quiet." The Sharingan warped his coal black eyes to red and black. "I'm considering sparing you but if you don't learn to be quiet I may just decide against it."
"You're too arrogant for your own good, Uchiha." Kin threw three senbon forward and the Uchiha dodged them without issue, moving his body to the side before he raised his hands and the movements of them were clear.
They were a staple of any fight with a member of the Uchiha Clan, be it during the Warring States Period or less than a decade ago, all members made use of the technique.
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" He breathed out a massive fireball that Kin dodged by leaping out of the way. He continued weaving hand signs as she was airborne and he dashed to the side, using the sheer mass of the fireball to stay hidden from her sight in addition to the flames obscuring his hands from sight.
The moment Kin landed from when she had leaped into the air, she narrowly ducked under a barrage of shuriken the Uchiha had thrown at her. She responded with another trio of senbon that he batted out of the way by drawing his sword. The ringing of bells briefly came to his ears but he ignored them in favor of bringing the hand holding the wire strings up and moving through a number of hand signs.
'Snake. Dra-What the hell is going on?' His red and black eyes widened in shock when the image of one Oto Genin multiplied into a dozen. 'Genjutsu?' He released the wire strings and stumbled back as the ringing once again came but this time it brought pain. He closed his eyes as the sounds seemed to vibrate his bones and turn them to powder. 'What the hell? When did she manage to do this?'
"Ha, you were all talk and no bite." Kin drew more senbon to fill her hands and threw them forward, Sasuke unable to even know they were coming. They struck his hand and, unwillingly, his sword fell to the ground with a clatter. He stumbled when he attempted a step towards the Kunoichi and instead ended up nearly falling when he heard the ringing in rapid succession around him. He could hardly keep his head straight with the sudden feeling of vertigo washing over him as the Kunoichi refilled her hand. "So much for the Uchiha being legendary and powerful Shinobi! You can't even handle my Genjutsu!"
'I need to finish this.' The red and black eyes of the Uchiha, even if unfocused, made Kin want to end the fight quickly. Another trio of senbon filled her free hand and she threw all six forward, the Uchiha seemingly noticing it.
'Which are real?' He only saw a swarm of senbon fly towards him, a near solid wall of needles that he had no idea how to avoid as the constant ringing only doubled the number. 'Can't figure it out like this.'
The Uchiha rushed through hand signs he had memorized with his Sharingan instead of trying to dodge.
"Doton: Doryuheki!" The stone beneath him surged upward as a wall that concealed him from the Kunoichi's sight. The Uchiha was somewhat grateful that he had fought Kakashi as he did on the day of the Bell Test. It was the reason he hadn't lost the fight then and there.
The disgrace to the Legion his defeat would bring would insure that Naruto changed his mind when it came to his decision in Nami no Kuni.
"It will go unnamed for today."
Sasuke knew how quickly such a thing could change.
The technique he had used took a healthy chunk of his Chakra to perform in the end, regardless of how well he had copied the hand signs for it. He was almost panting with each breath he took and he estimated he had lost roughly a fourth of his Chakra by making use of it. The near nausea he was feeling from the Genjutsu hadn't helped him with his Chakra management in the slightest. Normally he could regulate his use much better, especially when his Sharingan was active.
'Now to deal with the bells she's using.' The Uchiha's Sharingan, as it roamed around the arena, easily discovered the bells Kin had been feeding her Chakra to and he drew a number of shuriken out to deal with them before making his next move.
"What's the matter, can't take me on?" Kin didn't waste her senbon on the stone the Uchiha remained hidden behind. She ran Chakra down the strings attached to her fingers instead of approaching the Uchiha and was startled when no ringing answered the Chakra flow. It didn't take her long to notice the wire strings had been cut by shuriken from the Uchiha. The wall decided to crumble then and the Uchiha was nowhere to be found once it did so.
"Where are you?" Kin was cautious as her eyes looked for the Uchiha before a sneer crossed her face. She had a plan, the senbon in her hands had bells attached to them and could be triggered by Chakra Flow either in her hand or out it. All she needed to do was lure the Uchiha out to be sure she caught him. She had just the way too. "Too scared to face me? I can't believe people were actually supposed to think you were strong. You can't fight me now even if I'm going easy on you. You're just some weak brat! You're so weak that you're psycho of a brother didn't even bother to kill you."
Sasuke paused.
The Genin was underneath the Otogakure Shinobi and was about to use another move he had copied from Kakashi and end the match when her words had reached him. Memories he had thought he had buried to fuel his hate for the man he would kill came to the forefront of his mind. He knew he could end the battle now. He could come up beneath her and trap her in the ground and force her to submit. It was his plan to end the match before she had done it. She had brought up the man he had promised to kill. She had made him remember the blood soaked streets. She made him remember the massacre wrought by one man. She made him remember the torment of the last meeting he had with a fellow Uchiha.
She made him remember Itachi Uchiha's last words to him.
"You're not even worth killing. Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, foster your hatred and despise me. Surviving, in such an unsightly manner as this, by all means flee. Cling to your wretched life."
"You're calling me weak, huh?" The Uchiha laughed and it was audible to everyone. It came from below Kin and she leaped away, landing a fair distance away with her senbon ready to throw. The ground crumbled away as the Uchiha rose from beneath it. "If I'm weak like you say, what does that make you when you're on the ground begging for mercy?"
'Idiot.' Kin threw her senbon forward, Chakra already running down the strings. 'He let himself get drawn out. All I need to do is hit the bells with Chakra when they're close enough and he's done for. This was almost too easy. What does Lord Orochimaru want from a guy like him?'
"Your bells are your one trick, aren't they?" The Uchiha's eyes focused on the Chakra racing down the strings before he threw out another handful of shuriken. Once again, the wire strings were cut but the Uchiha didn't wait for the Kunoichi to realize such a thing. He was already moving forward at speeds she couldn't follow.
He was in front of her before she could react and he grabbed hold of her scarf, drawing her forward. She didn't act quickly enough and the Uchiha locked eyes with her.
"Let me show you a real Genjutsu now." The world changed. He wasn't trying to distract her or confuse her senses. He wanted to terrorize her. The light, however harsh it was, vanished for a moment for complete darkness to take its place before light returned.
It was blood red.
He was torn apart in a shower of blood before her eyes and Kin rapidly backpedaled. The ground the crimson ichor touched burned away and it was spreading, it ate away at the ground like acid. Only the void was left once it was done and Kin ran from it or at least tried to. She screamed when she saw something had grabbed her, holding her in place. She tried to struggle but the grip grew crushing and she collapsed to the ground. She fell just as the floor around her began to crumble.
She was left in the center of an island that was already eroding. Things reached over the side then, skeletal hands dragging up monstrosities that she knew were coming for her. They crawled over the side no matter how much she screamed, she couldn't free herself from the crushing vice no matter how hard she struggled.
They were dragging her across the floor, covering her, ripping at her flesh. The blood, the acid, it bit at her skin with each time they touched.
The skeletons that had crawled out of the darkness were tearing her apart, demonic grins on their horned skulls while clawed fingers ripped her flesh away. She tried to struggle but her body refused to cooperate, refused to obey her command. She was trapped and could only scream when the hands reached for her face at last.
They didn't tear at it through, they didn't claw at it, they did nothing. They merely forced her to look at the red eyes hanging high above her. They forced her to see the rain of blood begin. Crimson ran like rivers down to where she was forced to watch and consumed her, washed her away and into the void.
Her back hit the stone once the Uchiha released his hold of her scarf, Kin's eyes wide with terror as the Uchiha stared down at her with the Sharingan that had effortlessly trapped her in the monstrous illusion. She was paralyzed at the mere sight of the eyes and the Uchiha smirked at her.
"That was a real Genjutsu." He took a single step towards her and she found herself crawling back on her hands. He took another step and she tried to scramble up to her feet when she discovered they had been bound together with wire strings. "I'm not very good at it, even with a Sharingan." He pulled the wire strings wrapped around his hand taut by raising it. "I much more prefer Ninjutsu."
He slowly moved through the hand signs he would need, the same ones he had rushed through near the start of the match.
Snake. Dragon. Rabbit. Tiger. He raised the bundle of strings up to his mouth as Kin glanced around her at the shuriken and searched for her senbon with her free hands. The attempt was fruitless as he ninja pouch was tossed aside, its content strewn across the arena floor. It didn't take a genius to understand exactly what was about to happen.
"What the hell are you doing! That guy said no killing!" Kin struggled to pull away but the Uchiha was stronger than he looked, his arm didn't move no matter how much she struggled. She only succeeded in letting the strings bit into her legs. Blood began to run down the wire and the sight of it terrified her. "Stop! I give up! You win! I give up!"
"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" A massive flame roared down the wire strings as Kin screamed.
"Suiton: Mizurappa!"
Steam rose as the water struck the flames.
"That was pretty impressive Sasuke." Kakashi stood with Kin thrown over his shoulder as the steam brought on from the two attacks meeting dispersed throughout the room. "I'm sure you were just using that last attack as a scare tactic since lethal force was expressly forbidden, right?"
"I thought Jonin couldn't get involved, Kakashi. Why get in my way when I was about to finish the match?" Hayate's sword had severed the strings binding Kin and the Tokubetsu Jonin sighed from where he stood behind the Uchiha.
"The match was over once she started shouting about giving up." The proctor for the preliminaries turned to the watching audience. "Sasuke Uchiha wins his preliminary match."
Naruto offered a one man round of applause for his Legate then, his smile wide at his display, and the ovation was something the Legate accepted with a salute to the Uzumaki. He left as Kakashi resisted the urge to rub away the growing migraine the team was causing him.
'I'm going to need a drink after this.' The masked Jonin sat the Otogakure Genin down in front of her team and vanished over to his three students, two in name only, without a word.
"Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka are to come down to the arena." Hayate once more stood in the center of the room after a brief set of hand signs to return it to normal. "The same rules I spoke before apply to this match and any match. Killing your opponent is not allowed. If you attempt to do so, you will be stopped." The Shinobi sounded tired as he spoke something he thought he didn't need to. "Don't make me have to repeat that again."
"Well, I guess I'm up then." Sakura turned to leave the balcony.
"Sakura-chan." Naruto took hold of her arm before she could step away from him. Sasuke stood on her side but his eyes were elsewhere. His Sharingan roamed over the balcony they all waited on and he spotted his opponent being attended to by Medical-nin. "Before you leave to fight, I must know for certain that you understand something very important."
Blue eyes that usually looked at her with nothing but adoration held nothing in them.
"You are not as delicate as I once thought, you are quite capable, far beyond what I once thought. You stand above those below you with not only your beauty but your skills as well but Yamanaka is not to be treated lightly. She holds the advantage of a powerful Clan over your own. She will use Hiden techniques you will have no counters to. She will attempt to destroy you with skills taught to her by Shinobi the rank of Silver Fang but it makes her weak. Do not fail to impress me with your showing." As he spoke, his grip on her arm tightened ever so slightly. "The idea of seeing you defeated by such a girl as Ino Yamanaka is something I hardly wish to imagine. The reality of it…" He released her. "I would not like the actions I would need to take then."
"Don't worry about me." Sakura offered the blonde a smile that brought an identical one from him as well. "I'll be fine down there."
Neither spoke on the other's smile.
Sasuke's eyes followed Sakura as she headed down to the arena and he nodded to Naruto. The Uzumaki grinned as he leaned forward on the railing sat before him. Now all he had to do was wait and see if it was truly necessary in the end.
"You are quite devious, Praetor." Sasuke's comment brought a brief chuckle from the Uzumaki as Sakura's pink head appeared below the two as she walked across the floor to where the platinum blonde Ino waited for her, impatiently tapping her foot. "I don't know if Sakura will like the surprise you gave her."
"Sakura-chan's safety is more important than whatever she may feel from what I do to insure it." Naruto seemed to hand wave away the words of his Legate. "I will not see such a delicate flower perish because of the harshness of what surrounds it."
"Of course, Praetor." Sasuke did not speak anymore on the topic. Both turned their focus towards the fight below them it seemed.
'This has to stop soon.' Kakashi leaned back against a wall behind the two armored Genin as he looked down at his, in truth only, student with more pride in his eye than he thought he would ever have. 'Don't let them get to you Sakura. Show them all how much you've grown since you've come back.'
AN: 3 of 4.