Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
RETROSPECT
THE CHŪNIN EXAM
Sasuke had been so excited. It seemed silly now, to have gotten so worked up about it. He had been sure that, if nothing else, it would at least be fun.
He remembered the surge of pride swelling in his chest when Kakashi told Team 7 that he was recommending them all for that year's Chūnin Exam. It was rare for fresh Genin students such as themselves to be recommended for Chūnin so soon, especially during an era of peace. It either meant that they were exceptionally talented, or that Kakashi had suddenly lost his mind.
Naruto had jumped at the chance to take the exam, yelling something about becoming the Hokage; Sasuke had long ago learned just how to tune out the rubbish that came from Naruto's mouth. Sakura was more hesitant about the matter but agreed to take the exam in the end, luckily for her two teammates since Kakashi had so kindly neglected to tell them that only teams of three could participate in the exam.
Itachi had seemed mildly pleased at the prospect when Sasuke told him about it. He hadn't expected his brother to whoop with glee or anything but he could have hidden his worry a little better. Itachi had reminded him in that very serious voice he liked to use that people died in the Chūnin Exams. Sasuke knew that and was confident that he could survive.
Just before the first phase of the exam began, Itachi was sent on a mission. It was not a regular mission. It was in fact a very long one that estimated a minimum time of a month and half to complete. Itachi was going on missions all the time as Sasuke could now take care of himself. Some of them were long, some had Itachi running all over the country. It was the life of the Shinobi and they were both used to it.
However, when Itachi left, wishing Sasuke good luck in his exam, a strange sense of foreboding surrounded Sasuke. Something had felt off. Perhaps it was the pouring rain that had engulfed the village as Itachi had walked away from their home that had spurred his sense of disquiet. Sasuke had shrugged it off. He had to focus on the exam.
Finding the 'Rookie 9' (as their graduating class had been dubbed) all assembled in the room of Genin waiting to take the Chūnin exam had been a little discomforting, for several reasons. First there was the obvious problem of Ino draping herself all over Sasuke and clinging to him for reasons he just could not fathom. Then there was the issue that Team 7, 8 and 10 were all fairly well-acquainted, knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses which could prove problematic should the exam come to battles.
And what bothered Sasuke the most was that the entire graduating class had all been recommended for Chūnin. Were they all that good? Had the Sensei's been playing some sort of game, pitting each of the Rookie teams in the same exam where they would undoubtedly have to face-off? Sasuke felt used. He was almost certain that there was an ulterior motive to Kakashi recommending Team 7 for Chūnin. This was his first Genin team, Sasuke remembered. Was he trying to show off just how good a teacher he was?
Once again he had a feeling that this exam would not end well.
….
The first phase of the test had been…interesting. Sasuke had never thought that he would be marked on his ability to cheat in a test. Sakura and Naruto had also pulled through and they all moved on to the second phase.
Which had landed Sasuke where he was now. Trapped, helpless and afraid. Fear like this had not taken such a firm grip of him since that terrible night. The Grim Reaper was staring him in the face once again, this time taking the form of a tall, pale man with long black hair and luminous reptilian eyes. The eyes of a predator.
Naruto was passed out somewhere and Sakura was worn out, fallen to her knees, leaving Sasuke to face this man on his own. He had tried to bargain his way out of the situation, offering the 'Heaven' scroll to this man. Naruto was too blind to see that some things, like breathing, were more important than completing tests and had stopped that little transaction from taking place.
However it was probably for the better. This man was clearly not interested in the scrolls, or the exam. Those diamond shaped pupils looked only at Sasuke. They seemed to be seeing more than what was in front of him, as if he was discovering all the secrets of whatever he gazed upon. It made Sasuke afraid, so afraid.
He wanted to run, but his legs were locked with terror, he wanted to attack but he was too exhausted from their earlier fighting to throw even one more kunai. He wanted…
He wanted Itachi. The only reason he had survived that night was because Itachi had shown up to rescue him. He had stood between Sasuke and the Grim Reaper.
But Itachi wasn't going to swoop in this time. Itachi was on a mission, far away. Sasuke was alone.
"You will do very nicely," the man said, his voice somewhere between a hiss and a rasp. It was a quiet voice, soft-spoken and sure. The men with the quiet voices did not need to shout, because they were always listened to.
Shivering, Sasuke locked gazes with the man. At least he could keep his Sharingan ablaze. Some ninjas feared the red eyes of the Uchiha so much that they would raise their own sword to their throat just to be sure that they would never have to see them again, or so Itachi had said. The man in front of him did not seem to fear the Sharingan at all. His look was almost…fond. Or maybe it was fascination. Whatever it was, Sasuke didn't like it.
"Who are you?" seemed like a good question to ask. There wasn't much else Sasuke could do other than ask questions; he was outmatched and out of energy.
"My name is Orochimaru," he replied smoothly. Orochimaru was a name Sasuke recognised but he couldn't place it.
"What do you want from me?" seemed like the next best question to ask. Orochimaru was keeping his distance from Sasuke. It couldn't have been out of caution – the man had disregarded Sasuke's most powerful attacks like a lion disregards the flies that buzz around it. Both of them were balanced on thick tree branches, facing each other. The trees of the Forest of Death were massive and grew so close together they strangled out almost all of the light. Their branches reached far out, twisting and turning over each other like a giant net in the sky.
"What is it that you want, Sasuke?" Orochimaru flicked his tongue, much like a snake would, as he spoke Sasuke's name. What did Sasuke want? He wanted out of this situation, he wanted to pass the Chūnin exam, he wanted Itachi to come home safe….
None of them seemed appropriate answers so he waited for the pale man to speak again. Sakura struggled to her feet beside Sasuke, listening to the exchange.
"I'm sure that what you want, more than anything else in this world, is to know what really happened all those years ago, the night your Clan was wiped from existence."
What 'really' happened? Sasuke's eyes widened, his breath caught and his nails dug hard into his palms. Orochimaru smiled, knowing he had Sasuke's full attention.
"I think it's been eating away at you all this time, the little feeling that tells you there is something more to your Clan's murder that you don't know about," he said, voice as alluring and dangerous as a rearing viper. "There are people responsible that have not paid for their crime."
"What are you talking about? You know why they were murdered and the people who did it?" He was seeing their faces, each and every one of his Clan. And this man knew why they had died? Was there more to the story of the rogue ANBU that had attacked his family out of spite and jealousy?
"Yes….I know why that tragedy took place and the people who carried it out. People that need punishing, I'm sure you'll agree." He did agree. If there were people that had walked away from murdering his Clan, Sasuke wanted them dead. As dead as the rest of his family. That would be fair. An eye for an eye. Hatred and anger trembled within him. Bloodlust boiled to the surface of his being. It had been waiting all this time inside of Sasuke to be released, like magma waiting to erupt from a volcano.
"Unfortunately, you are not strong enough to make them pay," Orochimaru continued, his tone lilting into genuine dismay. Sasuke's skin prickled, eyes pinned on the reptile-like man. "This village will never make you strong enough because they fear you. The only one who can unleash your full potential, who can make you powerful enough to avenge your Clan, is me."
One moment, Sasuke saw a grin split Orochimaru's face. The next that face was right next to him. It was beyond imagination. The man's neck had lengthened incredibly fast and Orochimaru's face shot out, reaching for Sasuke, looking for a moment like a great snake lashing towards its prey. Sakura shrieked beside him but, like Sasuke, she had no clue what to do.
With a terrible hiss, the man bit into Sasuke's neck. Sasuke immediately knew something was horribly wrong, besides everything that had just happened. Orochimaru's teeth were not teeth at all; they were too long and too sharp. They were fangs. He could feel them deep in his flesh, biting down hard. But not on his jugular. He sank his fangs into the back of Sasuke's neck and held his prey in place.
And then the pain. The most excruciating, burning, freezing, throbbing, searing pain Sasuke had ever felt. He was sure he screamed, he must have screamed because that pain was too terrible to bear in silence for even a second.
At last Orochimaru released him, allowing Sasuke to collapse onto his knees, half whimpering and half shouting through the agony. He was very aware of everything around him. Sakura crouched down beside him, holding on to Sasuke as he shook and struggled with the pain. Orochimaru's neck receded back to a regular size. The man was grinning, licking the blood off his lips with his long tongue.
"That is a little gift from me. To remind you that I am the only one who can properly train you and will allow you to surpass all restraints this village will impose on you. You'll know of the truth I speak: I can tell you for a fact that no matter how well you do in this test or in any other exam, you will never be made a Chūnin. I'll see you again, ready for you to join me."
He might have said something else but the torture Sasuke was undergoing became too much. He yelled again and again and again, trying and failing to supress his distress.
Sasuke passed out in a shaking mess, curled in on himself and praying to some half-imagined God for the pain to end.
…
When he next awoke, Sasuke was ready to kill. Naruto was still unconscious and Sakura was injured. Some sort of fight had obviously taken place while he was passed out. Sakura's cherry coloured hair had been messily cut, her face bruised and bloodied.
Sasuke wasn't particularly fond of Sakura but she was still his teammate and had obviously taken care of his unconscious body for a while. Someone hurting her meant they were effectively hurting him, and he would see the heads roll of anyone who thought they could bring him more pain.
He didn't care who he was attacking. He barely had to think about what he was doing. Everything felt so simple and so right. The crunch of that ninja's bones, his cries of terror as Sasuke pulled both his arms from his sockets was the crescendo to his masterpiece. He kicked the man to the dirt, content to let him suffer the pain of losing his arms for a little longer until he saw fit to end his miserable life.
What was it that someone said to him not that long ago? 'People died in the Chūnin exams.' The thought brought on a smile. Yes, people did die in these exams.
As he advanced on his next victim, he felt himself trapped by something.
"Don't do it!"
Sasuke turned to see Sakura standing behind him, her arms wrapped around him like a vice, refusing to let go. Her pastel green eyes looked at Sasuke without their usual blatant adoration. They were filled with fear.
What was he doing again?
Kill them.
Why was his Sharingan activated?
Kill them.
Why was Sakura looking at him fearfully? He didn't want to scare her like this.
KILL THEM.
No…
The bloodlust died, melting away. It had consumed him and fuelled him. Sasuke fell to his knees, Sakura still clinging to him. He felt so tired, so very tired.
"Sasuke, you are strong," a man covered in bandages spoke. "So, I will strike a deal. I give you our scroll, and you let us leave." The man placed an 'Earth' scroll on the ground before moving to pick up his comrades who were both injured. That man on the ground…Sasuke had ripped both of his arms right out of his sockets. Had such a cruel action really been done by him? It was like tearing the wings from an insect. That was also how easy it had been, Sasuke remembered with a chill.
"However, Sasuke," the bandaged man continued. Sasuke noticed that his headband had a quaver engraved in the metal – the symbol of the Sound Village. "Should our paths ever cross again, we will neither run nor hide." The man turned to leave. Sasuke was content to let him go. He felt weak and wobbly. The sooner they left, the better.
"Wait!" Sakura called. The man paused. "Who is Orochimaru? What did he do to Sasuke?"
"I don't know. We only had orders to target the Uchiha," he replied briskly and hurried away. Sakura turned to Sasuke.
"What were all those marks on your body just now?" she asked quietly.
"Marks?" Sasuke didn't know what she was talking about.
"Just now, you had all these marks on you. They were like black fire." She trembled a little. "The mark he left on the back of your neck caused it, I think."
Sasuke could feel a dull ache coming from the spot Orochimaru had bitten him. He reached to touch it. He didn't feel anything there, other than a slice of pain as he pressed a little too hard on the area, like how a bruise hurts when too much pressure is put on it.
"Are you guys okay?" Ino was rushing towards them, Shikamaru and Choji following more slowly. Sasuke looked around and saw Rock Lee knocked out and his two teammates, the girl and Hyuuga, watching from the trees.
"Sakura," he whispered hurriedly, "Do not tell anyone about this mark or Orochimaru." She bit her lip. "Please," Sasuke begged. She nodded although the unease did not leave her eyes.
Sasuke didn't want anyone fussing over him and he didn't want to get pulled out of the exam. He had to know – did Orochimaru speak the truth? Was he going to be held back from promotion to Chūnin no matter how well he performed? The only way he could know for sure was to give everything he had in this exam.
…
Sasuke spent the following day and night in the hospital, letting his emotions consume him. A sudden death round had been included in the exam since too many candidates were involved. The pain from the mark Orochimaru had left on him had only grown worse, enormous swathes of aches and agony resonating from the back of his neck and pulsing all over his body.
Sakura had been desperate to stop Sasuke from participating in the rest of the exam but Sasuke was adamant that he continue. Naruto was still blissfully unaware of what exactly had happened in the Forest of Death, thank goodness. The last thing Sasuke wanted was that idiot yelling in his ear while Sakura badgered him in the other.
He had pulled through the preliminaries and Kakashi had sealed the Curse Mark. It would stop the pain and should prevent it from going haywire, like it had in the forest when he pulled that Sound nin's arms out of their sockets. The sealing was by no means pleasant, the pain tripling as Kakashi performed the jutsu for it. It had caused Sasuke to finally pass out.
When he awoke, Sasuke had been confined to the hospital, tubes and needles knotted around him, ensnaring him. He was put under guard and had only been allowed one visitor which was his Sensei, who relayed the details of the sudden death match and cryptically told him that they would be privately training for the final round.
What mattered to Sasuke was that he had passed his match and could proceed to the final stage of the exam where he would fight one-on-one with the mysterious Gaara of the Desert. And then he would see if he would become a Chūnin.
Something told him that Orochimaru had spoken the truth about his predetermined failure of the exam. No matter how good Sasuke was, he would not become a Chūnin. And that man said he knew the truth behind the murder of his Clan.
He should have cast those words from his mind long ago but he wanted to know what Orochimaru had to say. Where was that man now though? Sasuke believed that Orochimaru would not appear to him before the Exam came to an end. He would wait for Sasuke to discover that he would not become a Chūnin before taking his next step.
And now there was a month until the third and final part of the exam.
Why had been so excited to take this exam? All his training and hard work would amount to nothing. He winced as the Curse Mark gave a sharp twinge, a reminder of what had transpired and that he had almost died – apparently it was pretty rare for someone to survive Orochimaru's Curse Mark.
Sasuke wished his brother was home. Itachi would know what to say to make things better. He would actually tell Sasuke what the hell was going on, who Orochimaru was, and put his mind at ease about the things the Snake-man had said.
A horrid thought hit Sasuke. Did Itachi know anything about the massacre of the Clan that Sasuke didn't and was keeping it from him? Was Itachi behind it or in on it somehow?
No, it was impossible. He refused to let Orochimaru's words turn him against his own brother. Nevertheless, he would definitely seek out the Snake once the Chūnin exam came to a close.
Five, five, seven and three.
Five, five, seven and three.
Five, five, seven and three.
Edited 3/7/15
I know this chapter doesn't flow very well because there were certain parts of the Chūnin
Exam that didn't seem to have a lot of merit so were not included (Sasuke's fight with Rock Lee, while important in the manga/anime, doesn't convey much to this fic, for example). Hopefully you'll all forgive me for it.
Thank you to akasukifangirl, SilverXF, Shirayuki Hime999, Raidriar, Fictionnloverr, Guest, gentleflam51, Guest (Isa) and jmtothemusic for reviewing. It really does mean lot to me and any feedback is greatly appreciated and taken on board.
akasukifangirl: Haha, I'll hang on to that last chapter then. The 'Friends' chapter was partly inspired from this huge conversation me and my older sister had in which she basically told me that she hates all of my friends. I'm glad you like the wolves; I wasn't sure about it when I was writing it. Also I do have a plan for that pride idea you mentioned, it just won't be a Retrospect
SilverXF: Thank you so much for reviewing. I find it difficult to read or even appreciate fanfic about a universe I don't know so I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to read this. Haha, I often assume whoever is reading this knows about the Naruto universe so I forget to include little details like character appearances or motivations. That's probably something I should take a little more time to do in the future.
Shirayuki Hime999: I'm glad you liked the past two chapters. It did seem a bit out of place when writing for Itachi to dislike Naruto since, as you said, he's a very peaceful and mature character but it's good that you liked it.
Raidriar: Haha, Orochimaru will get what's coming to him although I haven't completely decided when or how yet.
Fictionnloverr: Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying this
Guest: Thank you, hopefully this chapter does not disappoint
gentleflam51: Haha, no worries. Kakashi is the guy in this fic that stops everybody from being morons, he always seems so wise to me in the original.
Guest (Isa): Thank you, I love these brothers too so I can't tear them apart forever; I wouldn't be able to live with that on my conscience!
jmtothemusic: Haha, I love your reviews! Here's an update for you, hopefully you like it. My goal in life is to give people the ultimate feels, because, you know, FEELS! Anyway, thank you so much and happy reading
Thanks for reading,
Cipher.