Chapter 2:
The house was in shambles.
Grainy wood walls stood scratched with long piercing marks. Chairs lay overturned, and the furniture all sat at odd angles. The smell alcohol was heavy in the air.
It was almost entirely uninhabited.
Save for a woman.
She sat propped up against a wall of the dingy house, with a bottle clutched tightly in her right hand. Around her, various similar ones lay open and empty.
It was this house that Kiba and Akamaru arrived to, and upon entering, both of their noses wrinkled.
Two bloodshot eye turned up to regard the pair.
"Shouldn't you be at training?" She growled.
Kiba's face tightened further. Atop his head, Akamaru started to shiver.
After a tense pause, she looked back down at her bottle.
"Guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"I got in."
She froze at that, but it soon faded.
"Congratulations." She said with a sneer.
"Now you can go run off and die like your fool of a sister."
Kiba's face broke in an instant, twisting into a grimace.
"Hana wouldn't have wanted-"
The bottle flew out of her hand, and shattered just inches away from Kiba's head. Akamaru yelped and gripped tightly into the boy's hair.
He flinched, but otherwise did not react.
"Hana died because that bastard of a Hokage felt the need to attack two Uchiha in our own village."
Kiba glanced around nervously. She laughed.
"And now you're going off to serve him. Should I be proud?"
She choked a small sob, and curled into herself.
Kiba couldn't take it anymore. He turned and sprinted out of the room, his eyes growing moist.
Behind, he heard her call.
"That's right. Run. Leave me. Just like your coward of a father."
He slammed the door behind him so hard it shook the walls. Immediately, the boy threw his fist at a mattress propped up against the wall. It shuddered under the impact, again and again as the boy pounded into it. Amidst the flurry, his fists turned into claws, and the fabric was shredded to ribbons.
After an eternity, he slumped against a wall of his own, a few trace tears making their way down his face.
The dog jumped down and looked at him with concern.
"Don't worry Akamaru." He said shakily.
"We won't have to put up with her much longer."
The dog rubbed up against his leg, and he put a hand down to massage his small partner.
Together they sat in content silence, while outside the window, the sun slowly fell down behind the faces of the Hokage.
After a pause, he muttered under his breath.
"Even if I have to deal with him."
A quick cut of the kunai put yet another mark on the wall of the warehouse. Sasuke landed with grace, his chakra-enhanced legs absorbing the impact effortlessly.
A small smirk donned his face.
Next to him, Shino made a quick sprint up the wall, and made a mark of his own. Kabuto smiled at them both.
"Ah, you're making quite a bit of progress." He said.
"It took me a lot of sleepless nights to figure this out."
Sasuke nodded, off in his own thought. Shino said nothing, but turned to face the doorway.
Sakura was there.
She walked in slowly, as if expecting them to turn her away. The teen shot her a reassuring smile, and she strode over to them.
Her expression turned puzzled.
"Where is..." She trailed off.
"I don't think Kiba will be coming back."
Surprisingly, it was Shino who spoke. Sakura gave a little sigh of relief, but stiffened when she saw Sasuke.
"Well then!" Kabuto said. "Perhaps you can give this a shot."
"We're practicing wall walking. It's a rather advanced technique." The teen grinned. "Now what you do is focus Chakra in your feet, so you can stick to the surface of it. For some, it helps to run at the wall; you know, get a running start."
"Is that it?" She mumbled.
He gave a shrug. "That's all my teacher told me. I assume there's some interesting mechanics in there, but I don't know em."
She nodded, and went over to the wall, glancing at the many marks the two boys had made.
The girl stood for many moments.
Then, she took a step.
And another.
Within the span of eight seconds, she had scaled the entire wall, far past the lower kunai marks.
"Remarkable." Kabuto said. "That's quite the talent you have. Chakra control on that level is rare even among the great clans."
Shino nodded approvingly, while Sasuke merely looked indifferent.
They trained together in silence for a while after that. Sasuke and Shino kept at the wall, while Kabuto took Sakura over to the box of scrolls to begin on some techniques.
It was many hours before any of them noticed a single sheet of paper that had appeared on one of the boxes.
The message was simple.
8:30 AM. Training Ground 7. Come prepared.
They knew what it meant as soon as they read it, and it filled them with anticipation.
The first battle would be tomorrow.
It was late in the evening, and Kabuto and Sasuke had both headed their own separate ways. Sakura was off as well, leaving the warehouse abandoned.
That is, save for Shino.
He studied the wall with a quiet intensity that was palpable, although it would not be evident in his vital signs.
Increased heart-rate agitated his inhabitants, so he preferred to avoid it.
With slow deliberation, he put one foot on the wall and slowly scaled his way up the wooden platform. He climbed one tentative step at a time, with all the concentration he could muster.
He slipped.
Shino felt his chakra run out the moment it happened, and sent out a cloud of bugs to cushion his landing. Like a muscle they responded immediately, swarming around him so fast it was as though a cloak had appeared out of midair.
He landed slightly off-balance, but corrected himself.
"Tch."
Kiba stood leaning against the door. His black shaggy hair was matted down under the small pup that sat atop it.
Shino turned to regard him.
"I confess. My kikaichu keep my chakra levels too low to allow for extended practice."
Kiba eyed him warily as if expecting some disapproval, before walking over to the wall a few paces away.
"Whatever. How does this thing work?"
Within a couple minutes, Kiba was making his way up the wall, Akamaru clutching carefully to his head. He preferred to sprint up, unlike his more stoic counterpart, who had begun again after regaining some energy.
Together they worked in companionship, as the light dimmed down to the darkness of night.
After many hours Kiba turned to leave, but Shino called to him before the boy could walk away.
"Our first battle is tomorrow."
He turned back in surprise. Shino nodded at the paper still lying on one of the boxes.
The boy scanned it quickly.
After a long pause, he shrugged.
"I'll be there."
Nothing else needed to be said.
Sasuke rolled over in his bed, unable to sleep.
It bothered him not knowing who they would face tomorrow.
Neither prospect was exactly appealing. If they were up against the Root Squad, they would be destroyed. That much was fact. He'd seen the speed at which the blond one had operated.
No. They didn't stand a chance against that kind of firepower. Not yet.
Shikamaru's group was another story.
His clan's history of battle strategy would've put him as the de-facto leader immediately, odd personality or no. In addition to the Hyuuga girl, they also had two veterans.
They even had Chouji, who would obviously be their close-range support.
He sat up at the edge of the bed, frustrated.
Ordinarily he'd ask Itachi about it, but he had yet to meet with his older brother after his disgrace.
The memory brought with it a deep rage.
No. Failure was not an option.
Sasuke rolled out of his bed, tugged on some clothes, and headed down to the street. He honestly didn't know if he was breaking curfew. Civilians were strictly forbidden from walking the streets after ten, but Shinobi had free reign.
Technically he wasn't one yet, and he didn't have a clan to support him anymore.
In the end, he supposed it didn't matter.
They'd probably seen him by now.
After a short walk, he arrived at the field that they would be fighting in. There in solitude he stayed from dusk till dawn, deep in thought.
It was when the sun brightly illuminated the top of the great stone hokage monument, that it finally came to him.
Training ground seven was a massive field, covered with tall grasses and wild-flowers. In the center a small lake was visible, surrounded by various jutting rocks.
The sun hung just over the horizon illuminating the tops of the trees, and painting the clouds a bright pink.
Squad Seven arrived in groups.
First was Sasuke, who'd been there for some time.
Kabuto and Sakura came together from the civilian part of town. The teen was wearing yet another perpetual smile, while Sakura seemed to feed off his positive energy.
Shino came in after that, walking in from the forest that bordered the field.
Finally, came Kiba.
From the moment he came into view his face twisted into a deep scowl. His chin tilted upwards slightly, and his arms crossed defiantly over his chest.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Then, on the other side of the field, Squad Eight arrived.
Shikamaru walked at the front, his back bent in his characteristic slump. Next to him strode Hinata, and behind them came Tenten, Yoroi, and Chouji. Sasuke breathed a small sigh of relief, unnoticed by his teammates.
When the other squad made it to them, two figures blurred over as well.
The first was the white-haired Chunin from earlier. The other was one of the Silents, his white mask as flat as his posture.
His grey cloak flailed in the light breeze that swept over the field, giving him a rather dramatic look.
Kiba grumbled something.
"Alright. I expect all of you understand why you're here." The Chunin said.
"Here are the ground rules. One squad wins when the other is fully incapacitated or unable to fight anymore. Lethal attacks are encouraged, as our battle proctor,"
He gestured at the masked figure.
"Will be here to step in and prevent permanent damage, as well as collect any of you that are injured or otherwise incapacitated."
Shikamaru's expression darkened.
"You mean to tell me we're fighting to kill here?"
"Of course." The man said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"The Lord Hokage believes that these battles should reflect real encounters as closely as possible. You do not need to fear. We have not yet had a casualty in a battle yet."
"Very reassuring." The boy grumbled.
"Now then. On either side of this field there are marked platforms. Team seven will take the east, while team eight takes the west. When both squads are in position, a lightning ninjutsu will be visible in the sky. That will be your cue to begin."
The man's face twisted into a sadistic smile.
"Oh, and one other thing. As of this moment, both of you have just lost access to your supplies. The winning team will receive access to all of them, while the losing one will not only lose theirs, but will have to leave one of their teammates out of the next battle."
"But that's not fair!" Sakura said.
The man shrugged.
"We're shinobi. It's never fair. Now, if you value your future careers, I suggest you get get moving."
The pair flickered away, and Sasuke and Shikamaru shared a glance.
"I don't care what he says. This is just barbaric." The young Nara said. With that, he and his team turned off towards their designated area.
Squad seven walked back their own way.
After a short distance, Sasuke shot an accusing look at Kabuto.
"You knew."
The teen shrugged. "I knew there would be something. They mix things up each year, so the veterans can't plan ahead. Besides, it tends to get worse if we try to warn our teammates. I think they consider that an unrealistic advantage."
His expression turned thoughtful.
"Also, if you'll notice, Squad Eight didn't seem to be expecting it either."
When lightning came down to strike the center lake, both sides sped into action. Shino and Kabuto both pulled back for the treeline immediately, while Sasuke powered forward, Sakura on his heels.
They were quickly overtaken by the two streaks of Kiba and Akamaru, pounding their way forward. The very ground was torn, then thrown up in their feral sprint.
Sasuke did his best to ignore the Inuzuka, and think strategy.
Shino would be already sending out bugs to tag the enemy team, possibly with poisons from Kabuto, if he could find any. Kiba from the looks of it, planned to just charge in and take on the whole team.
Imagining the boy getting knocked out brought a small smile to his face.
They didn't need him anyway.
Armed with the shunshin, this battle was already over.
On the other side of the field, Shikamaru made a calm jog forwards, flanked by Yoroi and Tenten. A little ways away, Chouji was rolling forward, using his clan's ninjutsu to gain an early lead.
The Hyuuga's eyes were already active, staring intently across at their enemies.
"What are they doing?" Shikamaru said.
"Shino and the older boy are in the forest." she responded. "The others are all coming here."
The boy let out a small smirk. Of course; they probably wanted the Aburame to get some time to set up.
Not that they'd give them that time.
A quick nod at Yoroi, had the tanned veteran turning towards the trees. Tenten pulled out one of her scrolls, gripping it in one hand.
Shikamaru grinned.
It was as he expected. They wanted to try for an early attack.
This battle was already over.
Kiba did not pride himself on battle strategy. He preferred a quick victory; no dancing around or mind games.
That Nara was clever, and posed the biggest threat towards victory. Given time, he would get progressively harder to catch.
The solution was simple.
Take out the little bastard immediately.
Through his enhanced eyes, Kiba spotted a giant form barreling towards him at roughly the same speed.
Easy pickings. Both he and Akamaru turned towards the Akimichi, intent on a quick finisher.
Those techniques of his were powerful, the boy knew, but lacked speed or accuracy, something the pair of them had in incredible quantity.
They sped towards him, tearing up the ground.
When the pair reached the center lake, all hell broke loose.
The battle had begun.
Sasuke dodged yet another cloud of shuriken, desperately trying to get some cover.
That girl. She was supposed to be a long range fighter, not this damn powerful. He had to roll to the side to avoid a massive spinning blade flying his way. Realizing how close he was to the Nara again, he jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding a slender shadow.
This was a disaster. They weren't stalling; just getting hammered again and again. Sakura had already failed to dodge a Kunai to the head, and had disappeared in a flash.
Her clothes and tools surprisingly enough, had remained present. Sasuke hadn't had much time to consider the applications of this, before he was hit from the side by one of the Inuzuka clones.
They both had been knocked into the water, and that was when more blades had come, flying towards them with deadly accuracy.
Sasuke had managed to get out of the way.
The clone had not.
"AKAMARU!" The other boy had yelled, before pounding towards Tenten, hoping to end the storm. She vanished in a cloud of smoke, replaced by Chouji, who immediately rolled into a forward spin, impacting the Inuzuka.
They met in a clash of sparks. Kiba had already twisted into his Passing Fang Technique, and the the spinning ball ground into twisting form.
They hammered into each other, neither side making any headway. A pair of shuriken went flying towards the cyclone, while a slender shadow crept around to ensnare him.
On being caught by the Shadow Imitation Technique, the boy froze mid attack, and was promptly rolled over by Chouji.
When the boy had passed, nothing was left but a pile of clothes.
Sasuke had taken this opportunity to knock down the round boy with a quick fist to the head.
It had taken him a shunshin to cross the distance, but at this point, he didn't give a damn about playing his cards. He couldn't attack Shikamaru anyway; not with that damn Hyuuga girl guarding him like a watchdog.
At this rate, he wouldn't be in the battle much longer.
His left arm was already carved up with long cuts, where he had failed to dodge blades completely. His legs were similarly cut, and he could feel his stamina wearing out by the second.
Dodging another handful of shuriken, he knew he couldn't avoid many more hits. The boy turned and flew across the field in a blur, exiting high in the air above the forest he knew Kabuto and Shino were waiting in.
It was something he had realized that night, when considering his failures with the technique.
He had been a fool for not recognizing it earlier.
Shinobi never landed on the ground after using Shunshin. They landed above where they wanted to be, to avoid being caught by the ground.
He impacted on one of the tree tops, and weaved down through the great trees.
Perhaps Kabuto would be able to fight the girl.
Otherwise, they didn't stand a chance.
In the forest, Kabuto kept his focused eyes on the three water clones surrounding him. As one they struck forward, each bringing fists up ready to end the boy's participation in the battle.
A quick substitution got him out of the trap. He armed himself with a handful of shuriken, and sent some out to block the kunai now headed his way.
Meanwhile, Shino was hammered by another kick from the original Yoroi. The Aburame tried to release a cloud of Kikaichu, but his attacker left no room, and no choice but to continuously block. His arms were already bruised under his thick coat, and he knew his chest was in just as poor condition.
Before Yoroi could strike again, the teen leapt backwards to avoid a kunai, that impacted the ground where he had stood. He glanced up to see Sasuke strike from above, already twisted into a kick.
He brought both his arms up to block the move, but Sasuke spun like a top, bring his other leg around to impact the older boy's head.
Seeing no room, Yoroi made a quick substitution. Having had a second, Shino was now surrounded by a massive cloak of bugs. They exploded outwards like an angry storm, searching for a single target.
Behind a tree, the teen disappeared, leaving only some clothes and a scattering of bugs.
Their purpose fulfilled, they returned to their master.
After a pause, Kabuto rejoined them.
A quick look at Sasuke had the grey-haired teen running chakra-cloaked hands over the boy, allowing the cuts to sew themselves up. His glasses were broken, bent at the center. One of the lenses was completely gone, and a long thin cut marked the side of his face.
Shino was visible bent over, his chest having been hit by a number of punches, in his desperate escape.
Kabuto moved on to him next, and soon he was standing straighter.
"There were too many of them." Sasuke ground out, eyes burning with rage. "Sakura was useless, and Kiba didn't do any better."
The teen's eyes were serious.
"Do they still have the Hyuuga with them?"
Sasuke's shocked expression said the answer clearly. From above, a sudden storm of knives rained down on them, from kunai to tanto blades.
Shino stood motionless, as he disappeared under a shuriken to the head.
After he vanished, a shadow retracted back from beneath the thick coat, returning to the cover it had arrived from.
"SHIKAMARU!" Sasuke roared, and ran towards the bush where the shadow had retreated, being hit by a couple shuriken in the process. They embedded themselves into his back and he screamed in pain, but didn't falter in his assault.
He leapt into the clearing behind the bush, and suddenly stopped.
Blood spurted out of his mouth, and he could only stare, shocked, into the pale eyes of Hinata.
Dug into his chest was a slender hand, flat palmed and cloaked in blue aura.
"You." He ground out, before falling to the ground.
Oblivion greeted him with open arms.
"Where the hell is he!"
Sasuke woke to the sound of shouting. Dull pain ached in his back, and shifting, he felt bandages around his torso. Pain echoed behind his eyes, and his head felt dull.
It took his eyes a second to adjust, and soon he made out the blurry form of Kiba.
The boy's hands were wrapped, and one eye was held shut. He was yelling at a doctor by the looks of it; a few trace spikes of brown hair hung around the older man's head.
"As I've said, your partner was moved to the Inuzuka clinic." The man explained. "We felt they would be best equipped to care for-"
"I don't want to listen to your excuses." Kiba growled. "You knew I didn't want them to touch Akamaru. You knew."
The man sighed.
"We simply don't have the equipment to care for him." He said.
"You think I care about that?"
Sasuke allowed his eyes to fall shut again, but not before glancing around the room. At his right Kabuto lay still, his right arm wrapped in a cast. The teen's face was black and blue, which implied he had lasted for a while before being taken out.
The thought snapped him back to reality.
Unless Kabuto had somehow defeated them all, they had lost.
He gripped his bruised hand into a fist.
Sasuke wanted to call it a fluke, but he knew it wasn't. Their team had lacked organization. Aside from Shino and Kabuto, they'd gotten in each other's way, and they enemy had used that.
Feeling his mind grow heavy again, he allowed his mind to slip back into slumber.
He was standing in front of the door that lead to his brothers room.
It was a drab white, and hung slightly open.
It almost seemed to be calling to him.
Sasuke ran forward and threw the door open, face already warming into a smile.
The room was in flames.
Black curls danced around the room, engulfing everything in it's destruction.
Itachi was gone. The bed lay empty and alit. Sasuke started calling out frantically, searching everywhere in the small room.
Then he turned, to see his brother's cloaked form move outside the white door. Sasuke sprinted after him, calling out to his brother all the while.
There he was, just at the top of the stairs.
Sasuke followed as fast as he could, while the flames chased them relentlessly, devouring the building. He yelled, desperately trying to catch up to his only sibling.
When he reached the roof, he looked around and saw only destruction. The entire village was crackling with black flames, wreathing it all in destruction. It covered everything, like a blanket.
Sasuke looked up, and quailed under the oppressive might of the moon, alit a bright red with swirling tomoes of the sharingan. it stared at him menacingly, making his entire body feel heavy and dragged down.
Then he saw, at the edge of the building, his brother's cloaked form. On the back of the cloak, the red and white fan of the Uchiha shone brightly in the darkness.
"ITACHI!" Sasuke yelled.
The form turned around. Sasuke saw his brother's face, and the two glowing red eyes that donned it.
Black pinwheels marked them, swirling like the flames.
He smiled warmly, and spoke.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
Then he turned back, and with slow deliberation put a foot onto the railing.
"Don't leave me!" Sasuke pleaded.
"Brother!"
The other foot came up to join the first.
"I'm nothing without you." Sasuke cried miserably.
"I won't disappoint you again. I swear."
Sasuke threw himself to his knees, and bowed as low as he could.
His young face ground into the stone. It scratched at him, but he didn't even notice.
"I'm begging you Itachi." The boy cried through the tears. His entire body shook, scattering the small droplets on the ground.
"Don't leave me."
The last thing the boy saw, was the cloak was fluttering wildly as it plummeted off the side.