Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Kudozaki Lucine. The rest belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Kudozaki Lucine

I nearly ran down the hall, desperate to get away from the crazy guy. Why does this keep happening to me? I wondered in annoyance. I already have Sasuke to deal with, and now this guy too? He's not even from my village.

I looked up at the clock that was on the wall as I passed by.

I'm pretty late now, the preliminaries has probably already started. When I finally made it back, I saw everyone's eyes glued to the arena. So it has begun. I also noticed that Sasuke was nowhere around, and that Gaara was already there which just weirded me out, since I left the hallway before him, yet he made it back first.

Naruto noticed me walking up from behind, and he turned around to grin at me, "Ah, Lucine-chan, you're late! Sasuke is already down there fighting with this Yoroi-dude. He's totally getting his ass handed to him, believe it!"

I simply hummed, amused by his description as I walked up next to him. I watched the sight occurring on the field before me, I sighed in disappointment. The sight was not pretty. Yoroi, as Naruto called him, was on top of Sasuke, pressing his palm against his forehead. Looking more closely, it was as if he was sucking out Sasuke's chakra.

If this keeps going, he will be forced to rely on the seal on his neck that feeds him dark chakra, just like in the forest. A repeat of that occurrence so soon would be unfavorable right now.

Sasuke stood up shakily, as he looked up at the audience, right up at me. His eyes looked desperately up at me, begging me for something I wouldn't give. It looked like he was in so much pain judging from his twisted expression and the way his body shook, I almost felt sorry for him.

Instead of shouting something encouraging or even sending him a smile, I shook my head in disappointment and looked away, completely unimpressed. As if this entire fight was a waste of time and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

It was harsh, but I knew exactly how Sasuke would react to that. Just some seconds later, I heard him growl out loudly, "Get off!"

When I looked back at the arena, I saw Sasuke sitting up shakily, Yoroi several feet away from him. From the looks of it, Sasuke managed to kick him off. I smirked mentally, Just as I expected.

Yoroi stood up, "You still had some strength left?" he asked almost mockingly. "Relax, I'll end this quickly."

Don't be so sure about that, I thought as I saw the determined look in Sasuke's eyes.

[ Insert Sasuke vs Yoroi fight (from Naruto episode 39) here ]

"I will stop this match now. The winner of the first match is Uchiha Sasuke, this means he passes the preliminary round." the proctor informed nonchalantly, which made me smirk.

Naruto cheered loudly, "Yes! Way too go!" He almost made me deaf, since he was standing so close to me, yet I shared his sentiment. I felt proud of him, Sasuke had won even in the state he was in. Sakura gave no other sign that she was happy other than a sighed in relief, but her shoulders were still pretty tense. Even though that event in the forest made her wary f Sasuke, it was obvious that a part of her still cared. I tilted my head to side as I watched her curiously. I wonder if she still has that ridiculous crush on him. Poor girl doesn't know any better.

In the corner of my eye, I saw that Gaara was staring calculatingly at Sasuke. He had probably underestimated him, and is now surprised over his abilities. I felt my chest swell with minor pride at that, as I had known from the beginning that Sasuke has always been strong.

I moved my gaze back to Sasuke and noticed how he was wobbling from side to side, unable to even stand properly. Even though he had won, he ended up in a pretty bad shape, and as a result, Naruto mocked him for this, "Hey, Sasuke! You won, but in such an uncool way! You look like you were the one who got beat up!"

Sasuke didn't say anything back, probably too tired to talk. When I noticed that he was going to fall backwards, I quickly disappeared in a small cloud of smoke, and reappeared behind him, catching him in my arms.

He tensed up in surprise, but relaxed immediately when he noticed that it was me. "Lucine." he breathed, panting heavily, "Why did you take so long to come back from the bathroom?"

I decided to ignore his question, knowing that if I told him of what had really happened nothing good would come of it. Sasuke has always been quite jealous. Not the cute kind, but the warped and unhealthy kind . Briefly, I remembered how he once locked me up in his room when we were children for talking to a boy in the academy. He didn't let me out until the next morning.

I quickly shook that unpleasant memory away and turned back to the situation at hand, "You did well, Sasuke. I'm proud of you."

When his eyes met mine, I saw how he immediately brightened up at the praise, his onyx eyes lighting up, "I-"

I held a finger up to his lips and shook my head, indicating that I wanted him to relax. Judging from the way he looked, he must be exhausted. After the events in the Forest of Death and this fight, I'm surprised he still hasn't fainted due to exhaustion.

Of course, he obliged and relaxed in my arms while entwining his left hand with mine and nuzzling his nose in my neck. Something in my chest warmed at the action, the same warmth I used to feel all the time when we were kids, and Sasuke was just a bit more sane. I let my fingers run through his hair, which made him close his eyes.

I've been more affectionate with him these days. It must be because I'm worried about the mark on his neck. At the mention of said mark, I decided to take advantage of the position, so I tilted my head to side to get a better view and scanned his neck more closely. It hadn't changed much since I last looked at it. It was still black, with three tomoes. Perhaps what was the most alarming was the dark energy seeping out of it.

This mark, I have a very bad feeling about this. It needs to be removed or sealed, somehow. But I have no idea how to do that.

As if someone just read my thoughts, Kakashi-sensei appeared next to me in a cloud of smoke. His eyes met mine for a second, which made me notice that he was confused, or worried.

He saw the mark, too.

Kakashi-sensei walked up to us, and bent down close to Sasuke. "Okay, up you go. You're coming with me." In annoyance, said boy opened his eyes and was about to snap something back, clearly not wishing to be disturbed, but Kakashi-sensei interrupted him before he could say anything. In a low voice only loud enough for us to hear he spoke, "We need to seal that curse mark."

[ A/N: I won't write Lucine's preliminary fight, because honestly it's not essential for the story. Whether she passed or not can be left to your imagination. ]