I love you guys. I really do.
I had to go back and rewrite this a little bit because I was in such a craze to get this and the next couple of chapters out that they felt so horribly rushed. But I think they turned out nicely. :)
Enjoy! I already am.
Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept
Chapter Twenty-Three: Beast
Sasuke's eyes snapped open wide at the words, and he felt a wicked grin split his face as he turned his eyes up towards the balcony, his eyes falling directly on his proclaimed opponent.
Naruto immediately felt the air around him grow colder as Sasuke's icy smile widened, and Sai fought to keep his face even as the expression make the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Every instinct told him to run.
Run and go now before you get eaten alive-
Naruto swallowed.
"Ah, well, good luck!" He stammered nervously, turning tail and bailing as soon as he physically could, dragging a thoroughly-confused Sakura along with him.
"You hate me so much, insect?" Sasuke called up to Sai, raising his arms and spreading them wide. "Why don't you come down here and show me just how much?"
Sai sneered, jumping down from the viewing platform to land solidly on the floor across from Sasuke.
"My pleasure, pest," he snapped back, his ninja scroll at his belt as he moved into the center of the room. Dagina bared her teeth, snarling and ready to rip his chest open, but Sasuke kneeled down and set a hand on her flank. Silently, whining softly, Dagina took her cue and padded away. "Don't worry; you'll be joining your teammates soon."
"Tough words, coming from someone who's about to die," Sasuke replied easily, his eyes cold. Sai sneered at him.
"We'll see," he challenged, making Sasuke smile. The air between them practically sizzled with lightning as they began to slowly circle each other, and Naruto felt the pit of his stomach roll nervously. None of the other matches had set him on edge quite like this one. Not even his own. Maybe it was Sasuke. Maybe it was Sai. Maybe it was the chilling, undoubtedly cruel aura that had started pouring from Sasuke's form as soon as the pairing was revealed.
Sasuke wanted a method in which to release his anger, his rage, his guilt. Everything that had been growing and churning within him since Haku's defeat and Inaré's almost-demise. And Sai might have just been exactly what he was looking for. Naruto didn't know why Sasuke was guilty, but he knew that look. He knew that expression of anger and sadness and hopelessness.
He had seen it in the mirror many a time.
"Don't kill him, Sasuke," Naruto breathed weakly as he rested his chin on the forearms that lay upon the railing, his eyes downcast. "Please."
The match start was announced.
Immediately, the two flew at each other, a flurry of punches and kicks and spins that sent them across the entirety of the fighting space in their vigor. It was if they both had something to prove; a statement they both wanted to make, and only by fighting the loudest could it be heard.
Sai was good at taijutsu. Maybe not as good as when in comparison with his sketching, Kakashi knew, but good.
Good enough, however, to stand against Sasuke? He had no idea. He hadn't witnessed the boy's battle with Orochimaru, but the Hokage had.
And had Kakashi been dreaming, or had he seen a glimmer of fear in the old man's eyes as he spoke of it? Such an idea had shaken the Jounin to the core, and he wondered if his current pupil would exit the battleground alive.
Naruto, however, had seen Sasuke's bout with the Sannin, and he could see the differences in styles. The Sasuke before had been detailed, no motion left wasted and no breath left unused - every aspect of his body had been geared both towards self-preservation and striking to kill. He had been like a machine; cold and merciless. Orochimaru had only missed by fractions of an inch, because fractions were all that mattered. During that battle, everything Sasuke did (every fraction of space that he did or did not relent) had been absolutely essential to the battle.
This Sasuke he saw now was... different. He was feral in nature, cruel and deadly and vicious. He lashed out without leave, without pause for thought of his own well-being, attacking relentlessly and dodging only out of necessity. Sai landed punches, but they didn't seem to register to the other male. They were both weak in strength or merely grazes (lacking the precision of a Sannin's skills) and Sasuke didn't waste his time moving away from them. His tactic was a mirror image of his female teammate's, pushing and pushing and pushing at his opponent in hopes of infuriating him enough to get him reckless.
The Sasuke before had fascinated Naruto with his calculating, silent art. Admittedly, the entire reason he couldn't bring himself to intervene was the sheer beauty of the entire thing. He had felt a stirring in his heart and his loins that had made him breathless. But this new Sasuke... only succeeded in terrifying him. Something deep within Naruto stirred, a sense of animalistic danger and fear that he never truly remembered experiencing before, and it made him tightly grip the railing in hopes of keeping himself grounded. As Sasuke fought, as his fighting grew more and more ferocious, Naruto felt his breath getting shallower and shallower, a cold sweat running down his face. His skin began to crawl, and the urge to run away grew greater and greater.
Go run now save yourself-
"Naruto?" Sakura asked, noticing the uneasy change. "Are you okay?"
He couldn't answer for a moment, unable to take his eyes from the match.
"N-no, Sakura..." he breathed softly. "I don't think I am."
My heart… is pounding so hard.
"You have to fight it."
A warm, heavy hand set itself on his shoulder, and Naruto jumped, snapping out of his trance to look upwards.
Zabuza stood next to him, his hand like an anchor to reality as Naruto gazed up at him.
"You have to fight it, that fear," Zabuza told him. "Don't let it rule you. Watch. Learn. Keep your eyes open. Don't turn your gaze away."
Kakashi, having lifted his eyes just long enough to see the man's interaction with his student, dropped his eyes again.
Interesting. He thought, sensing Naruto's Chakra idly. He pursed his lips. Now why would Sasuke's fight be affecting Naruto like that and no one else? His gaze flickered over to Gaara before his eyes went back down to the battle.
"What are you hiding, Sasuke?" He asked quietly.
A laugh that sounded close to a cackle and a choked gasp brought Naruto's attention back to the battle, and he saw that - in one well-placed lunge - Sasuke had snatched Sai's jaw in his left hand and raised his arm, clenching the boy's mandible powerfully in between his fingers as he raised the other fighter a foot off the floor, Sai's feet dangling as Sasuke grinned at him.
"Still think I'm not worthy of my reputation?" Sasuke asked him in glee, eyes flashing. Kakashi's single eye widened as he felt rather than saw; the Curse Mark was pulsating angrily beneath Sasuke's shirt - beneath the seal he had placed upon it. Sasuke's guilt over Haku (it was because of me that he got so hurt), his rage over Inaré (Gods there was so much blood and I did nothing)- he had been fighting and fighting it down, and now thanks to Sai's big mouth, he finally had an outlet for which to let all those negative feelings escape. "You pathetic twit!"
I wouldn't be so inclined to hurt you if you weren't such an massive fucking asshole-
"Don't, Sasuke," Kakashi breathed, suddenly fearing the worst as he felt his face go cold. "Oh please, don't-!"
Sasuke's grip on the other fighter's jaw tightened painfully, and Sai winced, his body quivering.
Dagina howled, and Sasuke withdrew his right hand, curling it tightly into a fist as he pulled it far, far back.
Wordlessly, he released Sai's face long enough to power his fist into it, delivering the entire force of his body behind the blow and sending Sai sailing to smash into the wall perpendicular to them with a cry. Sasuke's face had split into a mad grin, and he stalked – like an animal on two legs – towards Sai to finish the job, flexing his fingers as if he were extending claws. Naruto's eyes widened, as did Kakashi's.
"Sai!"
"Sasuke..."
His name, thought it was barely uttered, make Sasuke blink and pause, his eyes losing that fierce and terrifying gaze.
Haku?
He shuddered and shook his head, holding his brow in a palm as if a headache had suddenly come on and turning his face to the floor.
What's going on? Sasuke thought in panic, having heard Naruto's cry as well. He looked over at the wall, where Sai's body lay. He didn't even remember punching the other fighter. And as he thought about it he realized he didn't remember at least half of the physical bout that they just had. What am I doing?
Then he felt it. He felt the rumbling in his breast and the rage clawing at the back of his eyes. He felt the nerves beneath his nail beds itch to dig into flesh and tear muscle from bone. He knew it was because of his fear and his frustration and regret and knew that if he didn't stop it right now, put an end to it right now, it would mean danger for everyone and nobody would ever look at him the same-
"You must watch yourself..."
"I have to stop," Sasuke breathed in horror, fully realizing what was happening to him as the brand on his shoulder pulsed and seemed to writhe beneath his skin. Raising a hand, he clenched his shoulder, as if in hope that covering the mark would quiet it down as he struggled to regulate his frantic breathing. He kept his eyes down as his pupils dilated in fear, his other hand rising to cover one half of his face as the world suddenly seemed to spin. "I can't keep fighting like this. I have to forfeit!"
"I knew you were pathetic." Sasuke's eyes widened as he heard a voice behind him. "Can't even tell the difference between a clone and the real thing."
Sasuke whirled to face the voice as the Sai that had hit the wall dispersed in a flash of paper tags, and he immediately raised an arm to block the attack sent his way, instinctively counterattacking with a kick to his opponent's side. There was no thought to the reaction, no internal conversation. His body simply reacted, as it was trained to do.
Automatically leaping forward to continue the assault, Sasuke felt the mark on his shoulder throb painfully again, and he jerked, stopping himself mid-attack and dropping his arms down to his sides as he tried to control himself, backing away a couple of feet to get some space between them.
I can't fight. He thought, breathing hard. To fight is to potentially lose control, but...
"Out of breath already, great shinobi?" Sai taunted, grinning as he readied himself for another exchange. "Some fighter you and your partners were! Can't even handle a little bit of taijutsu!"
"Sai..." Kakashi breathed grimly, running a hand through his hair. "Shut up."
Sasuke grit his teeth angrily.
But it's so fucking hard with that dick shooting his mouth off!
"Shut up," Sasuke warned icily, eyes flashing. "I'm serious. You're gonna regret it if you don't."
"You're gonna regret it."
Sasuke's eyes widened as the words flashed through his mind.
No!
"That, I sincerely doubt," Sai replied with a smile, taking Sasuke's expression as fear of fighting him and thoroughly enjoying it. "Now, where were we?"
He leaped forward for the physical assault. Sasuke felt his body instinctively react (one hand up, the other to the side, feet squared in stance ready to block and counter) and fought against it, stilling his body, steeling his face and squaring up his feet, readying himself for the strike as his fingers curled into fists-
I can't I just can't-
He let Sai punch him square in the jaw, and the pain that flared through his face was just enough to distract him from the slowly-growing agony of the Curse Mark as his face wrenched to the side and he staggered backwards, arms reaching out to steady himself.
For an instant, his rage seemed to flicker in and out of existence, and Sasuke's eyes widened as he pulled himself straight again.
Pain. That's it. Punch me. Just keep your mouth shut and keep punching me-
"Where's all that big talk now?" Sai laughed, punching Sasuke repeatedly as the other Genin went with it, rolling with the punches and taking them without complaint, the sickening cracks with each contact Sai's knuckles made against bone filling the air. "You were going to kill me, weren't you? And your partner was going to rip all of the Sand ninja's limbs off, wasn't she? You're all bark and no bite, aren't you? Pathetic!"
Shut up. Shut up. Sasuke silently begged as he allowed himself to be beaten, over and over again. He struggled to clear his mind, to focus on purely the pain outside and not the pain he felt on the inside as Inaré's bloody and beaten face flickered in and out of his mind. The entire point of letting you beat the shit out of me is kind of lost if you don't shut the fuck up.
Finally, Sai delivered quite a brutal uppercut (very similar to the one Sasuke had given to his clone) and Sasuke quite literally flew off his feet to crash hard onto the ground on his belly, hair falling about him and body curling within itself as one arm rested beneath him.
"Sasuke, what are you doing?!" Naruto called angrily when Sasuke didn't immediately get back up. "Fight back! Why aren't you fighting back?!"
"He's protecting him, Naruto," Kakashi breathed sadly. "He's protecting all of us."
Who knows what sort of beast that Curse Mark will unleash given the chance…
Sasuke lay still for a moment, feeling the bones in his jaw fuse back together with a tingling itch that was almost painful, and he studied himself silently.
The Curse Mark was still there. It was still throbbing and he was still very, very angry. The pain from the wounds faded as his skin repaired itself, and Sasuke was left sulking on the floor.
If only the idiot had just shut his fucking mouth...
Shifting, he lifted himself up the littlest bit and turned his head, and Sai grinned.
"Oh, you haven't had enough?" He asked in excitement, the hair hiding Sasuke's eyes from view. "Good. I was beginning to think you had passed out, and I was going to be extremely disappointed."
Dagina snarled, leaping forward and going to her master's side, growling deeply at the other shinobi. Weakly, Sasuke took a fistful of her fur in hand, lifting himself up to lean against her flank.
"Hush, my dear," he breathed to her, running his other hand through her fur. "I told you to stay back. You were fine just where you were. I'll be fine. We'll both be fine."
You have to stay back. You have to stay safe. I need you to stay safe.
The creature whined, turning her head to snuggle against him and lick his face worriedly. Grimly, he pushed her affections away.
"You need to go."
Suddenly a whistling sound filled the air, and Sasuke looked up to see black and white monsters that carried the heads of lions with tusks upon bodies of whimsically balls of gas flying towards them from Sai's direction, and he and his animal instantaneously scattered in different ways.
Sai had his scroll and ink out, brush in hand. He smiled to himself as he drew something else to make the Terranova suffer.
I think I know just the thing.
"Underestimating me was a bad idea, Sasuke Terranova," he breathed in glee as more lions burst from his pages. "Behold, my Super Beast Imitating Drawing!"
"What a stupid name," Sasuke breathed as he dodged the creatures, dealing single blows to each that were enough to dispel them as he flipped and spun. "You really think some stupid art projects are going to be enough?"
The beating idea hadn't worked, and Sasuke found himself even more furious (it was your fault that Haku got hurt) than before as he dodged and attacked and leaped away from the flying animations. The amount of lion-heads were quickly multiplying (you didn't do anything to save Inaré), and they grew so numerous that Sasuke had a hard trouble seeing Sai or his pet as they swirled around (you just stood there and fucking watched), let alone getting to them. Despite being so fragile (you actually listened to her, you idiot, who does that-?), those teeth were frighteningly sharp, and Sasuke felt painful slices across his skin as one barely grazed him before the wounds smoothed over.
They're hurt. They're hurt and maybe even dying and it's all my fault.
A sharp howl cut through the air, and Sasuke looked over and knew even though he couldn't see that Dagina had been struck. There had been too many to aim for just him, so of course she would be another target. The vindictive bastard that Sai was.
No.
He rushed forward, cutting through all of the animations that stood in his way to get to the animal.
"Dagina!"
He saw her, leaning heavily against the wall. Her flank was bleeding; there was blood staining her fur - Gods he knew she shouldn't have stepped in-
She stepped in for you, you idiot.
"NO!"
You should've just killed him when you had the chance.
Sai suddenly appeared in front of him, between him and Dagina, and Sasuke swore as he dashed towards the other ninja that he didn't care who the other fighter belonged to or who loved him he was going to die if he didn't get out of the fucking way-!
"Sealing technique! Tiger Vision Staring Bullet!"
Sasuke's widened.
No - when did he get the time to draw that-?!
A massive black and white tiger burst through the pages in front of Sasuke, towering over him and reaching forward with angry claws and gnashing teeth as the Terranova had no choice but to run straight into it.
The fangs sank into his left shoulder blade, and Sasuke let out a strangled scream as they dived into the brand of the Curse Mark, making something of an electric shock course through his system.
"No!" He cried, digging his heels into the ground and clawing at the drawing as the tiger started to pull him into Sai's scroll, Sai grinning from where he held it up. He could feel it- the indigo markings, the redness that began to gather at the corners of his eyes, the itching in his fingers; he couldn't let it happen he couldn't- "You don't know what you're doing! Stop it!"
"Oh, I think I know exactly what I'm doing!" Sai exclaimed in glee as every inch Sasuke was pulled forward had his sight blurring all the more and that electric shock surging through his system more and more powerfully. He could feel his muscles start to spasm with the strain- "I'm winning this match and getting a new trophy for my collections!"
Just let him win. Sasuke told himself as he struggled. Just let him win and get sucked in. Don't let yourself-
No.
His eyes widened, and his entire body stilled for a fraction of an instant as everything seemed to end.
You will not.
Taking its chance, the tiger yanked him backwards with it, and he was silently sucked into Sai's scroll, vanishing from sight and reappearing as a sketch in its pages.
"NO!" Naruto cried. "SASUKE!"
You will not be defeated by some mere child.
Cackling as the wind faded, Sai snapped his sketchbook shut and smiled proudly, running his thumb along the spine.
"So much for the Land of Waves team," he cooed in pride. "What a disappointment." Smiling as he walked into the center of the room to be declared the winner, he opened his book up and searched for his new prize.
Blood will rain.
"Um... well..." Hayate muttered, looking around as the intense battle suddenly came to a screeching halt. Naruto seemed completely let down, but Kakashi and Zabuza were still very tense. Hayate raised a hand. "And the match goes to-"
"AH!" Sai, having found the page that he had entrapped Sasuke in, yelped, dropping his book to the floor and interrupting the proctor. "What the... what the hell is that?!"
The tiger he had used to ensnare the Terranova had been slaughtered.
End Chapter Twenty Three: Beast
DUNDUNDUN!
Enjoyed? Review?
Much love,
DDB
