Disclaimer: a. In canon, the technique of stealing a person's chakra through one's palm belongs to Yoroi Akado, who was part of Kabuto's team. For obvious reasons, Akado here will have a different and non-pivotal role: aka, filler. Which is more or less what he was in the manga as well, so no loss there. b. The dialogues spoken by everyone but Karin, Ryuu and Kurotaro plus some of Kakashi's and Sasuke's thoughts&dialogues were taken word for word from Chapter 67 and 68 of the manga.
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Chapter 3: Uchiha Sasuke
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"Sasuke…"
Sasuke slightly looks back, and this time the one that greets him is none other than his teacher, Kakashi. Sasuke's eyes narrow, the familiar uneasiness and repressed anger making their way back to his stomach.
For a moment due to the unexpected surprise of seeing the helpless redhead there, he had forgotten all about such feelings. But the fact that his teacher had approached him in such a way was nothing short of suspicious, and that was more than enough to remind him of the aching seal bitten into his skin.
But despite the fact that he had been expecting as much, he cannot help but to be surprised when he hears the white-haired jounin murmur, with a seriousness that he seldom used: "Don't use the sharingan."
"…So you know." Sasuke mutters back, smirking. Of course Kakashi would know. Hardly anything seemed to pass by unnoticed by that eye of his. Which was something that Sasuke found more than annoying half of the time.
Like now, for example.
"If that curse on your neck becomes active, you might lose your life."
Instinctively, Sasuke has been aware of that possible repercussion from the start. The way that seal reacted to his chakra and how painful it was, plus how it made him lose himself back in that forest even despite the fact that it had just been forced onto him… they were all mere glimpses of what that seal could be capable of.
If more time goes by…
"Probably," he replies finally, brow furrowed and no traces of the smirk left on his lips. It was one thing to instinctively guess something, and another to have it spelled out for you, confirming your worst fears.
"Well, if that happens…" Kakashi comments, beginning to walk away from Sasuke. "I'll jump in and stop the match, got that?"
This time it's not only slight surprise that makes its way to Sasuke's mind, but rather absolute shock. And as he swiftly turns around to face his teacher's retreating back, the repressed anger and uneasiness begin to spill, contorting his features.
Stop it?
Wordlessly he takes a hand to his neck to touch the seal, his mind going a mile per hour.
It seems this curse seal thing reacts to my chakra… He reflects, and memories from the forest and his tainted skin come back to him with enormous clarity. If I try to release my chakra it steals my mind and begins pulling out all my body's chakra…
If his conclusions were correct—and he has seen and experienced enough of that seal to be more than positive that they are correct—then the consequences were even graver than he had originally thought.
So in this match, not only sharingan… I can't even use my normal jutsu.
A new pressure grows inside of him and settles uncomfortably in his gut at the same time a chill of anxiety runs through his veins. But instead of bringing forth any fear, the pressure and the anxiety bring forward a blast of adrenaline which causes him to smirk as he meets the eyes of his opponent, the teammate of that helpless redhead.
Now… what do I do…?
He wonders, and his fingers itch rhythmically beside his pockets, his mind already working on coming up with a strategy that would allow him to win the fight despite this liability.
Because that was something that Sasuke knew with absolute certainty: he was going to win this fight and advance to the next round, no matter what.
It's said knowledge that which keeps the adrenaline flowing steadily through his body, his nerves acutely awake to the point where he could feel all the pairs of eyes focused on him, attentive of his every movement, eagerly awaiting to see what he had to show.
"Now…" The referee calls out, and the movement of his arms signals the beginning of the match even before his words do. "Please begin!"
In front of him, the teammate of the redhead adopts a fighting stance, his fingers immediately ready to make a seal. There is a wide smirk on his lips, almost predatory, and it causes Sasuke's own to darken as he begins to reach out for his kunai holder.
"Are you ready to lose?" the boy asks, tauntingly, and Sasuke finds himself snorting, annoyance spreading alongside the adrenaline.
It's then that a new fact crafts itself in his mind and joins the previous one.
He was not only going to win this fight. He was also going to wipe that annoying smirk off that guy's face.
And it's with those thoughts in mind that Sasuke's own smirk widens, the cold and familiar sensation of the kunai's steel caressing his fingers.
"Hn, I should be the one asking you that."
An ugly scowl replaces the boy's predator-like smirk and his left hand begins to glow with a yellowish hue as his right hand reaches into his shuriken pouch.
"We'll see about that." He grits through his teeth, and suddenly three shuriken are flying towards Sasuke at full speed.
The fight had just begun and in less than three seconds, Karin's intense and tensioned curiosity had morphed into appalled worry as she watched, with brows furrowed, how Sasuke let out a scream out of sheer effort as he deflected Kurotaro's shuriken with his kunai only to clumsily fall into the ground afterward in a heap of messy limbs.
That clumsiness—it was unlike what he had shown to her back in the Forest of Death, where he gracefully and effortlessly beat that bear with incredible efficiency. It also went against that unmoved calmness with which he took the news of the preliminaries, and even against that cockiness with which he had told her that her team would be one member short.
But—Karin thinks frantically, trying to draw the dots together as Kurotaro runs towards Sasuke at full speed—what she was watching now—the effort that Sasuke had to make just to avoid Kurotaro's punch and knock him off his feet—matched with what she had been able to witness back when the referee had mentioned quitting.
That pained way in which Sasuke had held his shoulder back then—the way the pain had seemed to assault him so suddenly—could it be… related to this?
Karin's thoughts take an abrupt turn, however, as she watches how Kurotaro begins to struggle in Sasuke's hold, managing to grab a fistful of the boy's shirt. Instantly, Karin clutches the handrail tighter, a warning yell bubbling up and dying in her throat.
No…! Don't let him touch you!
She silently advices Sasuke, but the boy cannot hear her, so she is left to helplessly watch how Kurotaro is abruptly capable of effortlessly breaking free of Sasuke's hold and then proceeds to punch the startled boy, who clutches his chest weakly, probably trying to figure out just why his strength had suddenly left him as Karin knew it had.
Horrified, Karin sees the way Kurotaro stands back on his feet and knows at once what he is about to do. Once again another warning struggles its way up her throat but this time it's quieted down due to Sasuke's pink-haired teammate voicing out her concerns.
"SASUKE-KUN!"
The girl screams, desperately, and the suddenness of it helps Sasuke react in time to notice Kurotaro reaching out to him—but not quite fast enough to avoid the strong and rough hold that the taller boy gets of his skull.
"Too slow!" Kurotaro boasts, grinning wickedly, and though Sasuke was at first clutching onto the boy's arm and trying to pull him away, his own hands slowly fall down on the ground, strength-less.
By then, Karin is holding onto the handrail with so much force that her knuckles turn white. Her teeth are biting onto her lower lip, her brow is furrowed, her eyes set solely on Sasuke as frustration and impotence made a ruckus inside of her petite body.
You need to break free of it…! She edges him on, wordlessly. You need to do it now, because Kurotaro's ability is…! Because—!
"…His ability is…!" Karin says out loud, her voice hoarse, and it's then that Sasuke speaks.
"You… my chakra…" looming over him, Kurotaro chuckles with unconcealed mirth and malice.
"So you've noticed only now, huh? Took you long enough, pretty boy!"
Yes, Sasuke-san! Kurotaro's special ability is that of absorbing chakra! That's why you have to break free of his hold, Sasuke-san, because otherwise he'll suck all of your chakra and spiritual energy just by the touch of his palm!
You have to break out of it! Karin yells inwardly, and she is focusing so hard on what was going on below her that she doesn't even notice the looks that Ryuu was throwing her way.
"Hurry up, Sasuke-san!" she breathes out, no louder than a mere whisper, and it's almost as if he heard her call because just then Sasuke springs into action.
"Ugh…damn… you!" he yells out and delivers a kick to Kurotaro's chest hard enough to send the taller boy reeling back a few feet. Struggling, Sasuke manages to prop himself up on his elbows, his brows furrowing more and more as he looked at Karin's teammate, whose grin came back full force as his palm once again began to glow with a yellowish hue.
Good one, Sasuke-san! Karin cheers, but the slight smile begins to ebb away as she sees how Kurotaro begins to sprint towards Sasuke, more than ready to put his palm to use.
"That was the last of your luck! It's too late now, my victory is ensured!"
Her so called teammate announces as he runs towards Sasuke, and this time, the emotions that bottle up inside of Karin's chest with the intention of pouring out her throat are too much too be held back.
From the start, Karin didn't think she would be cheering anyone on. Not Ryuu, and certainly not Kurotaro. She was going to be surrounded by powerful people who were unknown to her, and she was such a small dot in the big scheme of things. The last thing she wanted to do was bring any unwanted attention towards her, or towards her cell.
However such desires seem very distant to her as she clutches the handrail and leans forward, a single name coming out her lips in the form of a frantic warning—
"SASUKE-SAN!"
That was close… but if he touches me one more time, I'll be finished…
He will probably try to make this a close range fight…
This is it, what do I do?
The response to his unvoiced question reaches him in the form of his name being screamed by a female voice.
"SASUKE-SAN!"
She calls out, and despite the fact that he had just heard her voice for the first time mere minutes ago, Sasuke knows right away who she is; and as he looks at her, who is fiercely holding onto the handrail, along with her face comes the memory of a forest and a bear, and along with the bear comes the memory of—
Of—!
As if to highlight Sasuke's realization, another familiar voice calls out from behind him:
"SASUKE! ARE YOU REALLY UCHIHA SASUKE? IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?"
Naruto yells, and Sasuke sees all too clearly just which green-clad boy was standing beside the blonde.
His opponent—the teammate of the helpless redhead that he had met on the forest and who had just called out to him—is a mere step away from reaching him by then, but there's no hesitation inside of Sasuke anymore.
I know what to do!
"Say goodbye, loser!" his opponent yells, but instead of a 'goodbye' what greets him is a well-aimed kick to the chin which sends him reeling upwards, and with a swiftness that slightly strains his weakened muscles, Sasuke jumps up and positions himself below the boy's body.
"W—what the hell?" the taller boy exclaims, pain audible in his voice.
This technique isn't mine's, but…
"Though from here I'm going original…" A smirk draws itself across Sasuke's face as he raises two fingers and touches his opponent's back with them. "It's over. Are you ready to—?"
But the 'lose' he had intended to say is swallowed down by a surge of pain that extends from the seal down to his body and causes him to cough out a trail of blood.
Damn it…! It's reacting again…!
Helplessly he can feel the flame-like marks covering up his skin, marring it along with his sanity.
From below, Karin's excitement is yet again overpowered by the sensation that something was definitely not right. She didn't know how to explain it, and were she asked to she most probably wouldn't be able to put it into words, but it's still there—present somewhere in her conscious and pulsating like an open wound full of venom. It was a feeling similar to the one she had gotten when she had stared at Yakushi Kabuto's retreating back, but different all the same.
This one was far more intense, for one; but just as unrecognizable. All Karin could tell about it is that it did not mean anything good. At all.
There's something… something is wrong in here… something is wrong with Sasuke-san…
Her eyes narrow and she reaches towards her glasses in order to push them higher up her nose, to the point where they were pressed against her eyelashes in an attempt to be able to make out what was going up there, between Sasuke and Kurotaro. Her attempts pay off as Sasuke's profile comes more clearly into view, and she is able to barely discern the way in which Sasuke's expression had contorted into one of pain and discomfort.
What is going on? Is it his shoulder again?
What in the world happened to it?
Suddenly, Karin's eyes widen and her fingers let go of her glasses due to sheer surprise. It had lasted for less than the blink of an eye, but she could have sworn… she could've sworn that she had seen—
Black marks going up Sasuke-san's face…?
It's slowly that Karin blinks and lowers her hand, her fingers once again lying against the cold handrail.
No, no way. My bad eyes played tricks on me.
She tells herself as she shakes her head roughly in order to get over her stupor and return her attention to the fight, and as she does so she realizes that the awful sensation had left her altogether without her notice.
But even though the sensation was gone, what she couldn't shake away was the feeling that there had been something there. Something she had never witnessed before.
Something dangerous.
As the curse seal recedes due to Sasuke's willpower and his desire to not make his teammates worry, a wide smirk curves his lips upward.
"Here it comes," he announces to his enemy, who attempts to turn his head back in order to look at him, and as their eyes meet, Sasuke's smirk widens at the fright he sees reflected on them.
"W—wait!" the boy attempts to say, but Sasuke is already twisting his body and moving his leg upwards.
"Are you ready to lose?"
It's what he finally manages to exclaim, as he hits his adversary with a kick that the other boy barely manages to block.
"T—that was just weak!" Kurotaro taunts, grinning breathlessly. "Just not enough to beat someone like me!"
But Sasuke doesn't bother to reply with words, rather, he replies with actions as he twists and turns and delivers a combo of kicks and punches to the boy, effectively erasing the cocky grin off his face.
"There's more!" Sasuke yells out at last, as he prepares himself to land the very last kick, and as he does it, the name of the technique pours out his lungs, loud and clear—a technique that he had only used once before, to save one person—a helpless redhead who—
—Karin watched in exhilarated awe as the boy who had saved her just a day before landed all of his punches and kicks, effectively crushing Kurotaro. And as she saw it all, she could easily recognize the familiar combo, its name pouring out her lips in an excited and breathless whisper of recognition.
"Shishi rendan!" Karin echoes in an excited murmur, and for an instant her mind fuses the image of Kurotaro being forcefully sprawled into the floor due to Sasuke's kick with the memory of a bear being rendered unconscious due to that very same and powerful movement. And in that instant her smile stretches into a beam, and though Sasuke rolls across the floor due to the force of the impact, the happiness and excitement do not recede at all.
Just like how when Sasuke slowly begins to reincorporate himself and wipes a trail of blood off his chin, Karin isn't surprised in the least. She had not waited with held breath like everyone else had seemed to do, because she just knew—somehow, she had known that Sasuke was still conscious.
"I'm stopping the fight here… and thus…" begins Hayate, who had stepped forward and had checked Kurotaro's vitals, which confirmed that he was out cold. "The winner of the first match, Uchiha Sasuke… has passed the prelims!"
"YES!" Excitedly yells the loudmouthed blonde, and Karin cannot help but to join him, inwardly.
Resisting the overwhelming urge to jump up and down like a little kid, Karin cheers to herself, her eyes closed and her cheeks slightly flushed out of happiness and pride.
Well done, Sasuke-san! I knew you could do it!
"You're really excited, aren't you, Karin? Though that Kurotaro did have it coming to him," Ryuu mutters by her side, and it's only then that Karin realizes that her team had, indeed, just lost a member.
She blinks once, then once more—and then she simply begins to giggle, turning towards Ryuu and offering him a happy smile.
"Yeah!"
To think that she had gotten the chance to see Kurotaro having to eat his words, and forced by the strength of the kind boy who had saved her no less—life sometimes had such incredible things to show her.
I'm glad I stayed, she decided, still smiling happily. No matter what happens from now on, I'm glad I made it this far.
The thought of regretting those words later didn't even cross her mind.
"Well, good job."
Once again Kakashi's voice comes out of nowhere, but Sasuke gets over his surprise faster this time; due to the bone-aching tiredness, perhaps. But Sasuke cannot really bring himself to care about such petite matters.
He had managed to not only win the match and gain the opportunity to face all the strong people he actually desired to fight against, but he had also wiped the conceited smirk off that guy's face and he had beat the influence of that annoying curse seal. The satisfaction he was feeling was more than enough to overpower the tiredness.
He scoffs lightly as he turns back to stare at his teacher, giving him a slight smirk.
"Sasuke! Heh heh… you, you. What a lame way to win! You're all beat up, idiot!"
Naruto mocks from the upper level, his lips set in a happy grin and his eyes reduced to mere slits. And Sasuke cannot really help the way in which the hard edges of the curve of his lips soften slightly as he watches him.
"That damn total moron…" he mutters under his breath, and it's then that his eyes travel from Naruto to the boy standing by his side, who was also watching him intently, his thick brows furrowed.
Lee… thanks to you I was able to survive. If I hadn't seen your technique earlier I would have been in trouble. He admits to himself as he remembers the beating that Lee had given him earlier. But along with that memory comes another completely different: that of a girl putting on a pair of glasses and staring up at him with widened eyes.
And, it was also… thanks to her. Slowly, Sasuke turns away from Lee in order to face the opposite side of the upper level, where the redhead was standing along with—who Sasuke guessed—was her other teammate. She was smiling, her eyes closed, her face turned towards her teammate and away from Sasuke himself; and as such she misses the way his eyes intently observe her as he reflects—Had it not been for her voice, by the time I remembered the technique due to Lee it might have already been too late.
A sudden rush of pain causes him to look away from the redhead and to clutch his arm instead, his muscles contorting and numbing.
…But it's not a move that I can count on very much.
"Uchiha Sasuke," suddenly pronounces a man dressed in white, as if being summoned by Sasuke's physical pain. "Let the medical team treat your injuries now."
"You guys aren't needed. I'll take care of him."
To say that Sasuke is startled when Kakashi is abruptly right behind him rather than standing a few feet away would be an understatement. "I'm going to take you to the back and… seal up that curse."
His teacher whispers, and before Sasuke can get the chance to swallow down his surprise in order to make any questions, the referee begins to talk.
"Umm… we will now start the next match!"
"Wait until after the prelims…" Sasuke says then, his eyes set on Hayate's back. "I want to watch the other matches."
"No!"
The quickness and forcefulness of Kakashi's reply startles Sasuke more than his sudden presence had, and he turns back towards the white-haired jounin without bothering to hide that fact.
"Don't get so mad. If we don't take care of it now, it will be too late. I won't listen to your selfishness anymore."
It's thanks to Kakashi's seriousness that a part of Sasuke began to consider agreeing to his teacher's request without complaining. And absentmindedly, Sasuke guessed that was one of the downsides of having such an easy-going teacher; whenever he took a matter this seriously, it meant that it truly was a severe issue, and it helped to add to the graveness of any situation.
Regardless, there was another part of Sasuke who stubbornly clung to his desire to not waste the chance of watching the rest of the fights, and it was precisely that part which overwhelmed the other and made itself be heard before Kakashi could get the chance to forcefully poof away with him.
"It's not selfishness." Sasuke argues stubbornly with slightly narrowed eyes, and in his mind he can clearly see flashes of familiar faces; the faces of those he had deemed as worthy adversaries. "I want to know what to expect when it's my turn to fight one of them."
It was true that he already had an idea of Lee's fighting style, but Sasuke doubted he had truly seen half of what that weird boy could really do. When it came to the Hyuuga, all Sasuke knew about him was the stuff he had heard about the byakugan and its workings, but he had never gotten the chance to see it in action. And when it came down to that Gaara guy and Naruto, well…
"If you put that over your own life, it is selfishness." Kakashi throws back calmly, looking at him intently with his uncovered eye.
"…Are you forgetting that I fought off that curse up there?" Sasuke's eyes narrow even further at being met by his teacher's silence. "Don't tell me you didn't notice when the curse began to react, because I know you did. Just like you noticed that I had it without me telling you. So you must know even better than I do what that means."
His words seem to have been the right thing to say, because Kakashi looks away from him for a moment, thoughtfully focusing his eye on a point above Sasuke's shoulder instead. When he speaks again, his voice reflects the fact that he was carefully considering the matter.
"… We can't take any more risks, Sasuke."
Sasuke can feel victory standing a breath away, and he knows that he has to handle his next words carefully in order to land the final strike. He forces himself to remain unfazed, to not give in to anxiety, so that his mind can stay focused.
"And we won't. I don't have to fight anymore so I won't have to use any chakra, and I can handle the pain of the seal." He makes a pause in order to let his words sink in, but when his teacher's silence prolongs, Sasuke prods forward, his words being gritted through his teeth. "Come on, Kakashi…!"
"…Fine," Kakashi agrees finally, and Sasuke breathes in a sigh of relief. His teacher turns his exposed eye towards him then, the glint shining on it being more than enough to let Sasuke know that his next words were meant to be taken seriously. "But if I deem it necessary, I'm going to take you to the back, even if I have to knock you out."
The black-haired boy is unfazed by the warning, however, as the thrill of excitement and satisfaction about being able to remain there and see what was to come began to run through his body again. So he nods, smirking, "Fair enough."
"And," Kakashi adds, just as Sasuke is beginning to attempt to get on his feet. "I will only let you watch the next four fights regardless of whose they are. Not a single one more. Got it?"
"…Alright." He reluctantly agrees, knowing full well that there was no point in arguing because Kakashi wasn't about to give in anymore. Still, Kakashi's words cause him to frown moodily as he stands up only to falter due to his shaking knees. Every muscle in his body seemed to be either numb or aching with soreness, and he has to bite back a growl of pain because of it.
"Can you even stand on your own?" Kakashi inquires, curiously looking at him with an arched eyebrow over his open Icha Icha book. Sasuke's frown deepens but he turns a blind eye towards his teacher, sulking as he forces himself to walk up the stairs despite the pain and the indignation.
Now… it's my turn to see what you can do. He thinks, holding back grunts of discomfort at each step he gave.
You all better make this worth it.
—
End of the 3rd chapter
Thank you to Mikoto-san and Passingbyhere for their reviews. I really enjoyed reading them! And feedback is always greatly appreciated, so thank you again!
Random notes: As you guys may have noticed, aside from swaping his adversary I did not make any dastric changes to Sasuke's fight. I decided to let Kurotaro have Akado's technique due to the relevance said ability had in canon, as it allowed Sasuke's cursed seal to come forth.
Alas, in Sasuke's own words "I'm going original" from here onwards. So this will be the last chapter with canon material for the time being.
Up next: Karin's fight. And speaking about Karin; I believe that by the time of the Chuunin exams Karin had yet to fully awaken her chakra sensing ability, so that's why she notices only a thing or two. I'll be exploring her ability in the next few chapters, however. So don't worry!