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Chapter 9: Darkness Rising – Uzumaki Naruto

There is no value in killing the likes of you… My foolish brother… If you want to kill me… curse me! Hate me! And live a long and unsightly life… Run away… run away… and cling to your pitiful life. And then some day, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me.

- Uchiha Itachi

"Uchiha… Itachi…"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he stared hard at the figure that lay before him- his supposed brother. "Uchiha Itachi," he repeated in a malicious whisper. "Is that… really you…?"

Straightening up in his seat, Itachi stared at Sasuke with calm and unblinking eyes. "It's been a while, Sasuke." His eyes closing shut, he become so still that Sasuke and the others weren't even sure that he was alive. After a still long minute, his eyes opened to reveal his glowing red eyes once more. "How have you been? You look well."

Soifon gestured to Rangiku, beckoning for her to follow her as she walked towards the gate. "Let's go, Matsumoto. We'll give the two some time alone." As the two started walking away, Soifon glanced back at Sasuke. "You have five minutes, Uchiha Sasuke. After that, we'll come to fetch you." With that, she turned her head back around to face the front and walked through the gate alone with Rangiku following closely behind.

…

As the gate closed shut, Sasuke turned back around to face Itachi. "Itachi… Is what they said true…? Did you-." Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath in order to calm himself as his voice began to give away. "Did you really kill off our whole entire family…?" As Itachi remained silent, Sasuke began to lose his cool, and he clenched his teeth in anger and frustration.

"So, Genryusai-dono told you about it, did he?"

Sasuke's eyes widened at this. "So… it's all true…?!" Stepping forward, he grabbed the collar of Itachi's shirt and yanked him forward. "Tell me truth! Did you really kill off our tōsan and kaasan?! Tell me!"

"Yes," replied Itachi calmly. "It's all true."

"What?!" Sasuke's eyes began to flare as he released his electrifying reiatsu, the waves of energy crackling around him. "Why?! Why would you do something like that?!"

Itachi closed his eyes as he remained motionless, almost as if he was he was unwilling to fight again his little brother. "My foolish little brother… There is much that you don't understand."

"What do you mean by that?!" demanded Sasuke angrily.

Itachi sighed and grabbed Sasuke's wrist, squeezing it until he was forced to give up his grip. Once he did just that, Itachi readjusted the neck of his shirt and stared at Sasuke. "A word of advice, Sasuke… History is destined to repeat itself, but by learning from your past mistakes, it's possible to change it."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he stared hard at Itachi. "What do you mean by that…?"

"You can't recall any of your old memories from your past life, can you?" inquired Itachi. "Nothing about your former self… Your friends… Your family… Konoha…"

Konoha… Sasuke frowned, the word ringing a bell but still unable to discern its meaning. What's Konoha…? The Village Hidden in the Leaves… My former home? "I think that you know just as well as I do," he answered finally. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Do you want to know the truth, Sasuke?"

"What truth?" Sasuke relaxed as he realized that he might be getting the answers that he had been seeking for the past few years of his life.

"The truth about our family… Who you once were… The truth about our family's massacre."

"Of course I do!" Sasuke stepped forward, a desperate yet malevolent look creeping into his eyes. "Tell me!"

Itachi looked up at the ceiling of the cave, then at the gate where Soifon and Rangiku were waiting. After confirming that they were unable to eavesdrop, he took a step forward so that he was right beside Sasuke. "Tomorrow morning, you will be abducted by a group of my men disguised as Shinigami. They will knock you out and take you to a distant city that's commonly known at the Olden Seireitei Empire."

"The Olden Seireitei Empire…?" Sasuke blinked once, confused. What is he talking about…?

Itachi nodded. "Also known as the Olden City of Seireitei. It was where the old Seireitei held their gladiator battles thousands of years ago." Glancing sideways at Sasuke, Itachi's eyes narrowed. "There, you will find what you're looking for."

"Everything that I'm looking for?"

A small grin appeared on Itachi's face. "It'll be a start."

Right after Itachi finished his sentence, Soifon and Rangiku approached him. "Your time's up, Uchiha Sasuke," said Soifon. "Let's go."

Nodding in response, Sasuke turned around and began to walk away from Itachi and towards the gate. Is he telling the truth? Well, whether he was or not, there's only one way to find out… Anyways, I no longer have a choice in this matter. He suddenly snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Soifon's voice, and he glanced sideways at her.

"I asked what you two were talking about," said Soifon. "I heard him telling you something at the end… What was it?"

…

"It was nothing," replied Sasuke finally. "Nothing worth mentioning."

"I see…" Soifon obviously didn't believe him, but she chose to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Very well then, I won't pursue the matter any further."

As they continued walking up the rocky stairs of the underground passageways, Soifon glanced sideways at Sasuke with a curious glint in her eyes. "Let me make one thing clear." She turned her gaze back to the front as they reached the next underground level. "If I suspected for even a split second that your conversation with Uchiha Itachi could endanger Soul Society in any way, I would have you locked up and beaten until we purged the information from you. The only reason I haven't is because I see no reason for that."

"Oh?" Sasuke's eyes began to glow electric blue as he released an aura of reiatsu so intense that it sent shivers down Rangiku's spine as she leaned forward to see the expression on his face. "Be careful how you talk to people… Being ignorant of another's feelings could be the death of you."

Rangiku gulped as the tension in the air began to rise, and even without leaning forward to look, she could tell that the glaring Soifon was struggling to keep her anger in check and not lash out at Sasuke. Sasuke… Be careful how you talk to this woman… She's not your ordinary Shinigami…! If you say one wrong thing, she'll…

Soifon suddenly grinned and chuckled quietly, the noise surprising Rangiku greatly. "The same to you as well," said Soifon in a warning tone. Heh… "You've got guts, Uchiha Sasuke, unlike my gutless vice-captain Omaeda. We could use someone like you in our detention unit."

Sasuke blinked and looked up as they reached the top floor, his eyes squinting as they adjusted to the bright light. "I'm not interested," he answered as he stopped and turned to Soifon. "I'll be off now." With that, he turned around and started to walk away.

"I-I'll take my leave now, Soifon-taichou," said Rangiku as she bowed low to the captain; after that, she spun around and ran after Sasuke.

…

… That night, Sasuke looked up at the stars in the night sky from his position on the roof of the 10th Division Barracks as he thought back to his meeting with Itachi.

… "My foolish little brother… There is much that you don't understand."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared out into the distance. What did he mean by that…? And also… He definitely seems and acts like a criminal, but there's definitely something wrong here…

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke turned around to see Hitsugaya, the captain of the 10th Division, standing behind him. "Heh…" Sasuke gave him a grin. "There aren't much people who can sneak up on me like that…"

Hitsugaya ignored his compliment and sat a foot away from Sasuke. "So you met Uchiha Itachi I heard… How was it?"

"How do you think it was?"

Sighing, the young white-haired captain frowned as he stared at Sokyoku Hill. "A reunion with your older brother couldn't have gone well… They never do, especially in these situations."

"I could be wrong, but I don't think that's any of your business," said Sasuke in a polite yet warning voice.

…

"You're right." Hitsugaya's politeness and understanding surprised Sasuke, but he didn't show it. "My apologies… Anyways, did you find the answer that you were looking for?" When Sasuke gave him a surprised look, Hitsugaya gave him a small grin. "Heh… It's obvious from your whole posture and the way you act that you received at least some kind of answer from Itachi…"

Sasuke didn't respond as he continued to stare out into the night. After a few minute of silence passed, he turned his head to look at Hitsugaya. "Say… Did you know Itachi from before… all of this?"

Hitsugaya looked up and at Sasuke in surprise. "Why do you ask?"

"What was he like? I want to know at least a little about him- who he was before all of this."

…

"Hm…" Hitsugaya let out a loud sigh as he looked up at the full moon that stood in the sky above them. "Let's see… Uchiha Itachi… He was the son of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto, and he joined the Gotei 13 long before I did, but he's not as old as a lot of people think. He's barely a hundred years old if I'm correct… He graduated from the Shinōreijutsuin, or the Spiritual Arts Academy, in just a little over three years at the age of fifteen, which in Soul Society is the equivalent to that of someone not even a child. As he was the heir of the Uchiha Family, he was trained for the first ten years of his life after graduating from the academy before he was allowed to join the Gotei 13."

Sasuke listened quietly as Hitsugaya spoke, absorbing each and every word that the young captain spoke like a sponge.

"He was hailed as a genius even above me, not to sound boastful or arrogant," continued Hitsugaya, "He quickly became a vice-captain at the age of thirty, and he became the captain of the 9th Division at the age of forty-five. He was always the quiet type to be honest, but he was a kind yet conflicted person. Kind to his subordinates, but cold and merciless at the same time. He-."

"Hitsugaya-taichou."

Both Hitsugaya and Sasuke turned around in surprise to see Soifon standing behind them. "Soifon-taichou," greeted Hitsugaya as he slowly got up. "What are you doing here in 10th Division territory?"

Soifon crossed her arms as she looked away from the two. "An emergency captain's meeting was called for. Orders from the soutaichou. Let's go."

"Alright, I'll be right there," answered Hitsugaya with a curt nod.

Soifon gave Hitsugaya and Sasuke a hard stare through narrowed eyes before turning around to leave. "Hitsugaya-taichou… You know that any mention of Uchiha Itachi is forbidden… It's a code one banned history, so be careful. I'll let you off only this once."

…

"Understood." Hitsugaya's face remained immobile, but it was quite obvious that he found Soifon slightly annoying. "I'll keep that in mind."

Nodding, Soifon disappeared into the night, leaving only a gust of leaves floating in her place. Once she left, Hitsugaya looked down at Sasuke. "Don't mind her… She's a little touchy when it comes to Itachi."

Sasuke looked up at him questioningly, and Hitsugaya closed his eyes and chuckled softly. "She used to have a small crush on him I guess you could say. They might have briefly dated, but who knows? Anyways…" He turned around and crouched down on the edge of the roof. "See you later, Sasuke." With that, he jumped down and disappeared from Sasuke's view.

…

The next morning…

Sasuke was walking near the border of the 10th Division territory with Rangiku by his side. "So, Sasuke…" Rangiku turned her head to face him. "Wanna go and grab some breakfast? I know this absolutely amazing restaurant near the-."

"No thanks." Sasuke suddenly stopped as he noticed a nearby wagon with two dirty brown horses mounted on the front of it. "I have to go now, sorry. I'll meet you back at the 10th Division Barracks later. Sorry."

"O-Ok," stuttered Rangiku. Giving Sasuke a sad and disappointed smile, she turned around and trudged off sadly.

Once she disappeared from view, Sasuke turned back around to face the wagon and began to walk towards it cautiously. Now it begins… I don't know how this is going to help me regain my memories, but Itachi definitely wasn't lying when he told me that it would… I guess that I have to trust him…

…

Upon reaching the rusty and worn-down wagon, he noticed three Shinigami with suspicious looking faces leaning against the wall next to the wagon. As he walked up to them, he noticed them suddenly becoming very still and tense. "Are you two Itachi's guys?" Sasuke asked as he stopped in front of them.

THUD! Sasuke's eyes widened as he suddenly felt a heavy blow to the back of his head. Wh-What the-… Dammit… His eyes shutting close, he fell face-flat into the dirt where the men bound his hands and feet in old and worn-out ropes and carried him into the wagon.

"Alright." One of the three Shinigami nodded at the other two. "Let's get moving."

|Unknown Location, Soul Society|

Three days later…

Sasuke woke up to the sound of wagon wheels clattering against the bumpy dirt path of the outside. "Ugh…" He shook his head as he struggled to clear his drowsy head. "Where am I…?" He squinted against the bright light that came into the wagon through the tattered blanket that covered the entrance of the wagon.

"So you've finally woken up, huh?"

Sasuke looked up at the sound of the voice to see one of the three Shinigami from earlier sitting across from him, his katana, which Sasuke noticed to be a plain one and not a Zanpakuto, sitting across his lap unsheathed.

"Here." The Shinigami tossed Sasuke a chunk of bread, which Sasuke caught with his bound hands. "Eat."

Sasuke scoffed as he looked down at his bound hands, and then up at the fake Shinigami. "Care to cut me loose?"

"Hah!" The fake Shinigami laughed out loud as if Sasuke had suggested something completely ridiculous, which in his mind, probably was. "You must be kidding me… But then again, Itachi-san did tell me to treat you well, so…" His blade flashed across the air as he skillfully severed the rope that bound Sasuke's hands together. "Now, eat."

He tossed a water bottle at Sasuke as well, and, catching it, Sasuke began to hungrily tear at the large chunk of bread. "So, are we almost there?" he asked as he continued to eat. "How long has it been since I've been out?"

"It's been three days, and we should be almost there," answered the Shinigami guard; he then noticed a surprised look spreading across his face and laughed out loud. "We've been giving you drugged water in case you were wondering. We couldn't risk you running off you know."

…

An hour later, Sasuke looked up from his spot in the corner of the wagon at the sound of a loud and screechy noise that rang throughout the air for a good long minute. "We're here," said the guard, and he turned around to leave the wagon.

"Wait," said Sasuke. "Where's my Zanpakuto?"

"Oh, I forgot," grinned the guard. "Here you go." Rummaging through a burlap sack near the edge of the wagon, he grabbed Sasuke's sheathed Zanpakuto and tossed it at him. "Anyways, good luck."

As he jumped down from the wagon, Sasuke narrowed his eyes the wagon began to move forward again. And so it begins…

…

The sound of roaring and cheering filled his ears as entered the building- which he guessed it was-, and he straightened up and looked around as the flap of the wagon was opened up. "Get out," said another guard which stood in front of the wagon entrance. "We're here."

Right as Sasuke stepped out into the view of the blazing sun, he felt his skin prickle and burn under the fiery inferno rays of the sun above him. He suddenly felt a sharp prod in his back, and he looked behind his shoulder to see the guard poking him with the tip of his spear. "Let's move," said the guard with another poke.

… As Sasuke and the guard entered the gated entrance and the large wall that towered above him, Sasuke frowned as he noticed the rusty stone walls and stairs and realized that this whole entire structure was probably well over a thousand years old, never having been touched or refurbished even once.

"In here." The guard motioned to the door on their right, and Sasuke took a deep breath and entered the room as the guard opened the door.

… Sasuke noticed right away that the dark room was only lit by the dim sunlight that streamed in through the thin holes of the wall. It was a fairly large room with multiple wooden benches scattered throughout the room, and there were also around fifteen or twenty figures seated on the benches and scattered everywhere.

The room, which was already extremely silent, became more so as Sasuke entered the room. The glares from the figures didn't unnerve Sasuke even one bit, but they did warn him to be weary and tread cautiously.

Stopping in front of the door, the guard slammed the butt of his spear on the floor as to get everyone's attention. "The next battle with commence in approximetly fifteen minutes," he said. "I'll be back then, so be prepared." And with that, he walked out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Sasuke alone with the others.

…

Sasuke noticed everyone still staring at him, and he quietly walked over to a tall mirror and stared hard at his reflection. Frowning, he removed his shirt and left it hanging at his waist as it would only be a hindrance to him.

"Do I… know you…?" said a voice behind him.

Sasuke turned around to see a young male with spiky orange hair and dark orange eyes standing behind him, a hard and unstable look in his eyes.

"No." Sasuke frowned as he stared hard at him. "You do seem familiar though… Who are you?"

Giving Sasuke a hard stare as well, the stranger seemed to unconsciously release an unstable reiatsu that caused discomfort for many of the others in the room. "I'm Juugo… and who are you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Uchiha… Sasuke…" repeated Juugo softly. "Well, it's nice to meet you. Welcome to the gladiator arena."

"Gladiator arena?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he thought back to what Itachi had said a few days before.

…"Tomorrow morning, you will be abducted by a group of my men disguised as Shinigami. They will knock you out and take you to a distant city that's commonly known at the Olden Seireitei Empire."

"The Olden Seireitei Empire…?"

Itachi nodded. "Also known as the Olden City of Seireitei. It was where the old Seireitei held their gladiator battles thousands of years ago." Glancing sideways at Sasuke, Itachi's eyes narrowed. "There, you will find what you're looking for."

…

"So…" Sasuke looked around the dark room and glanced at each and every single one of the gladiator figures that were scattered throughout the room. "How does this whole gladiator thing work?"

"Well, let's see…" Juugo sighed as he looked down at the floor. "The people who run these battles bring in around twenty to thirty people each week through kidnapping and other illegal methods, and there are multiple battles each day. We're group number three, and there are currently a total of ten groups in the coliseum."

"Any rules?"

Juugo nodded, surprised at Sasuke's question. "Well, there's-, well, no, no there isn't. It's a battle of people verses Hollows. If you win, you live, and if you lose, you die. There is no other rule, but then again, there hasn't been anyone that's survived more than five battles…"

"Oh? And which one is this for you?" inquired Sasuke.

"This will be my fifth," replied Juugo in an empty voice. "Who knows though?" He shrugged as he glanced sideways at Sasuke. "Maybe I'll be the second."

"Second?"

Juugo blinked, confused for a second. "Oh, that's right. I didn't say, did I?" He looked around the room until he found who he was looking for. Glancing sideways at Sasuke, he pointed to a figure hidden by the shadows in the corner of the room. "There…"

As Sasuke's eyes covered the room, he noticed a figure, a light-tanned male with fairly long and spiky blonde hair, seated on a bench in the corner of the room with his head bowed and his arms resting on his knees. As the figure looked up, Sasuke's eyes met his shocking ice blue eyes and noticed faint whisker marks on both of cheeks of his hard, feral, and fairly attractive face.

"Who is he…?" asked Sasuke in a soft whisper.

Juugo's eyes narrowed as he stared at the figure. "The only gladiator to have survived a grand total of ninety-five matches as well as a former Shinigami of the Gotei 13… Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki… Naruto…?" Sasuke frowned as he continued to stare at the figure through narrowed eyes. Why does that name sound familiar…? Wait- Uzumaki Menma…! Could they be-? "How did he end up here?" he asked Juugo quietly.

"No one really knows," answered Juugo, "but they say that he was betrayed by someone, and that's how he ended up here…"

"I see…" Sasuke was able to sense a warm yet dangerous aura emanate from Naruto, and he activated his Sharingan to check out what was going on with him. His eyes widened in shock as he noticed something unbelievable about him.

Th-This is… Sasuke noticed right away that Naruto possessed an enormous supply of reiryoku that radiated off of him in forms of untamed orange waves, but even with reiryoku that was just a single level below that of a captain, there was something that was hidden inside of him that spoke of something both monstrous and sinister that seemed to almost make a captain's reiryoku supply seem insignificant. With the total amount of reiatsu that he possessed, Sasuke realized that his reiryoku would surpass that of even the monster Zaraki Kenpachi's, a captain that he had encountered just a little over a week ago during his stay in Seireitei.

The sound of someone's fist pounding on the door snapped Sasuke out of his thoughts. "It's time!" shouted the voice from behind the door. "Everyone in group three out right away!"

… As Sasuke, Juugo, and the rest of the fourteen gladiators walked through the dark and damp hallway, Sasuke turned his head to look at Juugo.

"So," Sasuke started, "there seems to be a lot of strong people here… Why don't they just rebel against the guards and escape? The security here doesn't seem to be too tight or strong for that matter…"

Juugo raised an eyebrow at Sasuke's question as if he had just asked something completely ridiculous. "I'm surprised that you don't know, even if you are new," he said quietly as to avoid the attention of the guards. "This whole entire city has been said to be controlled by a very powerful criminal organization… No one ever knows if they're watching us, so we can't afford to start a rebellion."

"A criminal organization…?" echoed Sasuke. "I've never heard of anything like that while I was in Seireitei…"

"Be quiet back there!" scolded a guard at the very front of the line of victims.

Juugo nodded solemnly, and then he looked around to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation. "The name of the criminal organization has been only heard among us gladiators in whispers," he said in an almost inaudible whisper. "It's…"

"...the Akatsuki."

…

"We're here!" announced the guard after a few seconds. "Everyone, front and center! You know the drill- enter the arena in a single file line!"

Sasuke clenched and unclenched his fists as he entered the blinding sunlight and into the arena. The whole arena seemed to be filled with the roars of excitement and anticipation of the crowd of over five thousand, and he managed to catch sight of five figures standing in a private booth in the far end of the arena.

Four of the five figures seemed to just be extremely well-dressed nobles of some manner, but the fifth figure seemed to stand out way too much. The figure, which was obviously a male, seemed to be a young adult with an even younger face that gave him the appearance of a teenager no older than Sasuke was himself. He had short red hair and wide bright eyes, and he wore a chin-high collared black coat with red cloud designs on them. Sasuke's sharp eyes caught sight of his purple ring worn on his left thumb which had the kanji for "jewel" on it in black.

Who is he…? wondered Sasuke as he caught sight of the figure. He doesn't seem to fit in with the group of nobles, but judging by their mannerisms, I'd say that that figure is the leader… His eyes narrowed as he began to realize what was going on. Could he be… a member of the Akatsuki…?

As Sasuke continued to walk out into the middle of the arena, he caught the red-haired figure catching a glance at him, his eyes narrowing as he saw Sasuke. The next second, he seemed to disappear as he flash stepped away.

GAAAHHHHH! Sasuke and the others looked up, startled at the sudden roaring noises that came from the multiple caged doors that surrounded the arena. They heard a barrage of thumps and thud noises from behind the caged doors, and Sasuke noticed many of the gladiators looking extremely nervous.

…

THUD!

…

THUD!

…

THUD!

…

THUD! The whole arena seemed to fall silent as the caged doors slowly creaked open. The sound of many, many creatures roaring and howling began to fill the coliseum as the sound of chains dragging across the ground filled the ears of the gladiators.

Sasuke's eyes widened as over fifty Hollows were dragged into the arena, some small, some large, and some so big and tall that they seemed to dwarf the other huge Hollows. They scattered throughout the area as over twenty guards poured into the arena and unchained them, rushing back into the building as quickly as their feet would allow them right after.

As the Hollows surrounded the group of gladiators, Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he slowly unsheathed his Zanpakuto which hung at his side. Twirling the sword in his hand, he noticed Naruto doing the same out of the corner of his eyes, surprisingly calm and unworried despite the situation that they were in.

"And now!" announced an elderly male figure from the private booth at the end of the arena, "we will begin the next battle between the gladiators and the Hollows! Now… fight!"

And with a roar of excitement and approval, the all-out battle of the gladiators began.

…

THUD! Sasuke executed a backflip as he dodged a punch from a gigantic Hollow, the impact of the attack causing the ground to explode. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Sasuke sped forward and slashed at the Hollow, skidding to a halt on the opposite side of it. The Hollow, looking down at its bisected body, let out a roar as it fell on the ground and disintegrated into nothing.

"GRAWRRRRR!"

Sasuke looked behind him to see three large Hollows charging at him, their heads all bowed. Spinning around to face the front, Sasuke continued spinning on the ball of one foot as he slammed his other foot into one of the Hollow's side, sending it flying over five feet away. Right after, Sasuke swung his sword behind him and grabbed the hilt with his other hand, stabbing the second Hollow right in its eye.

The Hollow screamed out in pain, and Sasuke gathered his strength and sliced through the rest of its' head with a yell of effort. As the third Hollow appeared above Sasuke, its fists raised high, Sasuke looked up and pointed his finger straight at its face.

"Hadō #4: Byakurai."

A bolt of blue-white lightning sped straight towards the Hollow's face and created a fairly medium-sized hole right above its eyes. Letting out a low groan, the Hollow pitched forward face-flat and lay still, dead.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Sasuke saw Naruto skillfully dispatching a group of ten Hollows with graceful dance-reminiscent moves consisting of both Zanjutsu and Hakuda. He's strong… Sasuke frowned as he watched the former blonde Shinigami slash at another Hollow that was charging at his side.

Sasuke suddenly heard a cry of pain and turned around to see Juugo on his back, his eyes wide as two Hollows stood above him. Just as Sasuke was about to rush over to give him a hand, however, he saw Juugo's eyes turning bloodshot as a wild and murderous reiatsu began to engulf him.

What's going on here…? wondered Sasuke as he watched Juugo closely. This sudden spike in his reiryoku…

"AHHHHH!" screamed Juugo as he leapt up onto his feet. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! DIE!" A fiery red pattern began to spread across the right side of his face as his reiryoku began to grow even larger, and the pattern began to cease to reveal the whole right side of Juugo's face and body stone grey.

His reiryoku… What is this…? Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he watched Juugo laughing manically. He also noticed most of the other gladiators edging away from Juugo nervously, almost as if they've seen this side of him before. His reiryoku level could rival those of a captain now…

Juugo held out his arm, his hand suddenly seemed to grow and transform into a giant axe head. Swinging his arm back, he let out a scream as the axe head completely destroyed a good portion of a large Hollow's head. Spinning around, he let out a dangerous growl as he leapt on top of a gigantic Hollow and started smashing its' head in with his axe head.

Sasuke noticed Naruto watching Juugo quietly out of the corner of his eyes, calm and relaxed despite the bloody scene that was happening before their very eyes. As he turned his eyes back to Juugo, he noticed a small insect-like Hollow crawling up behind Juugo. He had seen one before during his stay in Seireitei, and he knew that once the parasite Hollow attached itself to Juugo, it would slowly start eating him out from the inside out. It was also impossible to get off of oneself, as once it attached itself to someone, their very bodies would become linked. They were very rare, and it was said that there was only a handful of them that came about every century.

The parasite Hollow was just about to leap onto Juugo's back when Sasuke, flash stepping behind Juugo, kicked Juugo out of the way with incredible strength that sent him flying over ten feet away. Right after, Sasuke spun around in mid-air and stabbed down at the Hollow with his katana, pinning it to the ground and causing it to writhe in pain for a few seconds before becoming still.

Sasuke's attack had caused Juugo to become enraged, and as he charged at Sasuke with a fierce roar, Sasuke unconsciously activated his Sharingan before he knew what he was doing, and he stared hard into Juugo's crazed eyes, stopping his rampage.

Letting out a weak groan, the grey pattern regressed back along with Juugo's reiatsu until it disappeared altogether. Falling onto his knees, Juugo began to breathe heavily as he went down on all fours. "S-So that's the power of the Sharingan…" he panted weakly.

"It's a form of hypnosis if you must know," explained Sasuke as he walked up to him. "I apologize for kicking you, but if I hadn't, you would've been attacked by the parasite Hollow." He motioned behind him to the dead insect-like Hollow that lay still on the ground.

Juugo's eyes widened in shock, obviously recognizing the rare and deadly Hollow. "I-I-…" He bowed his head in shame. "Uchiha Sasuke… Thank you."

Scoffing quietly, Sasuke looked around at the arena. The battle had finished during his and Juugo's conversation, and while all of the Hollows had been killed, seven of the fifteen other gladiators had been killed in the fight.

Sheathing his katana, Sasuke saw Naruto quietly walking back towards the building without a word, ignoring the cheers of approval and the thundering sound of the audience clapping and cheering for the victors of the match.

…

Back inside of the building a few minutes later after the match had ended, Sasuke stood beneath the shower, his hand pressed against the stone wall as the shower head poured water down over his head.

After getting out of the shower, Sasuke walked into the room, or the "lounge" where the gladiators stayed and slept in, as he dried himself off with a towel. It was a fairly spacious room that was reserved for only the best group, and even though most of the gladiators were forced here through kidnapping and such, Sasuke had to admit that it was a fairly nice room. The room was very clean and well-kept, and there were ten couches spread across the room along with fifteen straw mats that were spread out along the right corner of the room.

After putting his shirt back on, Sasuke sighed as he sank into a comfortable couch.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke turned around to see Juugo standing behind him, a blank expression on his face. "Oh, it's you," said Sasuke. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to thank you for saving me earlier," said Juugo as he bowed his head in thanks. "If there's anything that I can ever do for you, just name it. From now on, I owe you my life."

"No thanks," replied Sasuke curtly as he stared up at the ceiling of the room. "Consider it a thanks for giving me information on this place."

…

Nodding in understanding, Juugo turned around and started walking towards the corner of the room where he sat with his arms wrapped around his legs and his eyes closed.

Sighing again, Sasuke closed his eyes and began to think about this whole entire situation that he was in when he sensed someone approaching him from behind. Opening his eyes, Sasuke turned around to see a blonde figure wearing a dark orange and fiery red hooded sweatshirt standing behind him. Although he was surprised by this, he didn't show it as he stared at him with a blank expression on his face. "You…"

"Uchiha Sasuke, right?" The blonde figure, Naruto, stared hard at Sasuke through narrowed eyes as he stood still. "There's something that I want to ask you."

To be continued…

So, thoughts on the chapter? I wasn't sure if I had made it interesting enough or not. Thoughts are much appreciated.