~Scroll 29~
"All right..." Hayate started, "Please, begin!"
"Shall I start?" Yoroi questioned, bringing his hands together and in front of his masked face.
"Go for it." Sasuke taunted.
Yoroi's right hand gleamed with an unknown chakra while his left hand reached into his weapons pouch.
Sasuke armed himself with a kunai.
Yoroi threw three shuriken.
Sasuke blocked but his body protested against the sudden move, causing him to stumble. The dark haired teen looked up and immediately rolled away as Yoroi appeared and slammed his right fist where Sasuke had just laid.
In a flash, the Uchiha wrapped his legs around Yoroi's arm, dropping the Konoha ninja to the ground. The teen tried to dislocate Yoroi's shoulder when suddenly he felt his strength fading.
His grip weakened.
Yoroi easily shook Sasuke's hold as the larger shinobi slammed his elbow into the teen's stomach followed by a punch.
Yoroi hopped away while Sasuke was left twitching on the ground, trying to understand where his strength had gone.
"Sasuke!" The Uchiha heard his teammate call out but the warning came too late.
Yoroi was on top of him.
Sasuke was pinned to the ground while Yoroi's right hand gripped onto the teen's forehead.
"Sasuke! He's an Eater!" Naruto's voice broke through the Avenger's daze.
"You're..." The Uchiha's voice was barely above a whisper, "feeding on my chakra..."
"... heh heh..." Yoroi darkly chuckled, "finally, figured it out, eh?"
"Aaugh!" Sasuke screamed as he felt a war being raged within him. "Ohh... you..." The teen then lashed out with a swift kick, his right leg connecting with Yoroi's chin, "... son of a ... !"
Yoroi laughed as he slowly got to his feet.
"Imagine a little vermin like you having any strength left to oppose me."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he tried to catch his breath. He knew that he had got lucky with his last attack. If Yoroi made contact with the teen again, Sasuke knew that he would not have enough energy to avoid another assault. As much as he hated to admit a weakness, he knew that even he was reaching his limit.
Up in the balcony, Naruto and Sakura watched helplessly. In the background, the blonde could hear someone questioning the Uchiha's abilities, but he did not have the heart to defend his friend. For the blonde, he felt it better that Sasuke was defeated and have that curse mark treated as soon as possible. However, the petite teen knew that the raven-haired youth would not accept defeat.
"Sasuke..." Naruto whispered as he listened to his teammate's Heart Song, which sounded strain and on the verge of snapping again.
As if he heard his name being whispered, the Uchiha looked up to the small blonde. For a brief moment, dark and blue eyes were locked together, ignoring all else, when a sudden movement to Naruto's left caught the raven-haired teen's attention. His eyes grew wide at the sudden inspiration.
"Heh..." Yoroi chuckled, "You couldn't have picked a worse time to let your mind wander!"
He charged with his hand aglow.
POW!
Sasuke kicked Yoroi under his chin with his left leg.
Yoroi's body flew into the air.
Sasuke disappeared behind his opponent, unaware of the startled expressions on Gai's and Rock Lee's faces as they recognized the Uchiha's moves.
"After this," The dark teen muttered, "I'll limit myself to my own special skills, but for now...!"
Yoroi stilled as he felt the teen poke the center of his back.
"It's over." Sasuke predicted.
"Oh!" Yoroi gasped as he finally realized what was happening, "Kagebuyo - Shadow of the Dancing Leaf...?!"
"Eat this!"
Suddenly pain pulsed through Sasuke's body. He let out a sick and wet cough, blood painting the air. His body seized up then trembled as the pain ripped at his senses. While consumed in the throes of the curse-mark, a soft voice broke through the haze. At first, the voice did not make sense until Sasuke finally heard the words... words he had not heard since he was a small child... it was a lullaby... a lullaby that his mother used to sing it to him...
"{Lullaby, and good night, in the skies stars are bright
"{May the moon, silvery beams, bring you with dreams
"{Close you eyes, now and rest, may these hours be blessed
"{Till the sky's bright with dawn, when you wake with a yawn
"{Lullaby, and good night, you are mother's delight
"{I'll protect you from harm, and you'll wake in my arms...}"
But that was not his mother's voice...
"{Sleepyhead, close your eyes, for I'm right beside you
"{Guardian angels are near, so sleep without fear
"{Lullaby, and good night, with roses bedight
"{Lilies o'er head, lay thee down in thy bed
"{Lullaby, and good night, you are mother's delight
"{I'll protect you from harm, and you'll wake in my arms...}"
Naruto! Sasuke gasped as he realized who was signing to him, giving him strength to fight against the pain. And during his mental battle, the Uchiha was unaware of the sickly markings that had nearly spread across his side as it had once before. And now... the markings began to recede.
Free from the pain, Sasuke was able to think clearly again and to complete his assault against his opponent.
"Let's go!" The teen remarked darkly.
The Uchiha slammed his leg against Yoroi then rotated around again and slammed his arm into the shinobi's chest, propelling the Nin faster to the ground.
Sasuke slammed his fist again into Yoroi before rotating around once more for a final kick.
"And now..." The Uchiha growled out, "Shishirendan! Barrage of Lions!"
Yoroi slammed into the ground, rending him unconscious.
Sasuke skidded across the ground before tumbling heel overhead and finally stopped.
Hayate casually walked to Yoroi's unmoving body. The Konoha Nin casually looked over the down shinobi then lightly smiled when he heard the young Genin groan as the teen slowly pushed himself up.
"I'm halting this match before it goes any further." The proctor called, "In other words, Uchiha Sasuke is the champion of the first battle... and advances past the preliminaries to the next level!"
Up in the balcony, Sasuke's teammates sighed in relief as Sakura whispered in disbelief that the raven-haired had done it.
The Uchiha weakly dropped again and would have flopped down had it not been the sudden brace against his back.
"Hey!" Kakashi casually stated, using his knee to keep the tired teen stable, "Well done!"
The Jounin was impressed that the Uchiha was able to use techniques deriving from Gai's own fighting style, which he had memorized from his little spar with Lee.
Sasuke ignored his sensei and looked over to his blonde, who looked at him in relief and worry. The raven-haired teen twitched violently as his body protested against the abuse.
"Uchiha Sasuke..." A medic called as his colleagues carried the unconscious Yoroi away, "we must escort you, too, and put you under the care of the medical corps... so you can get the best possible treatment."
"You have no idea what you'd be getting yourselves into." The former ANBU drawled, "I'll handle him."
The medic did not protest any further and left the teen in the Jounin's hand.
"... I'll seal away the curse mark." He whispered to the teen.
"Well then..." Hayate continued, ignoring the teacher and student, "Right! Let's get the next match going."
"Can't this wait?" Sasuke attempted to stall. He did not need nor want the mark to be sealed away. He needed the power of the mark. He needed to make that power his! And he can... as long as he stayed with his blonde. "I want to watch everyone else compete."
"NO!" Although the Jounin did not raise his voice, the teen could hear the tension in the older shinobi's voice, "Don't let your emotions cloud your judgement!
"This thing is spreading like a disease, and it's already close to the point of no return. I let you have your own way once, and it's only made you greedy."
~o.O.o~
Naruto and Sakura watched as their sensei escorted their teammate out of the arena while the other applicants watched the board to see who would be next.
"Where are they going?" The pinkette whispered.
Of course... Shisui remarked as he too watched the pair leave.
Naruto only tilted his head ever slightly to the side, which the Uchiha phantom took as a signal for him to continue.
Your sensei knows about seals. He's probably going to place a seal on that curse mark. The specter explained.
"Oh!" The blonde exclaimed.
Sakura looked at her otouto, who then leaned over and whispered into her ear what he had just been told. Even her eyes grew wide.
"Do you think it will work?" She asked hopefully.
Naruto nibbled at his lower lip. He truly hoped that their sensei's seal would work, but the blonde could sense the dark power within the curse mark. It was lying in wait, much like a serpent waiting for its prey. It would only need a catalyst to unleash the unholy power lurking within the last Uchiha.
Blue eyes looked into his 'neechan eyes and saw her desperation to believe that their sensei could fix this.
"I hope so." The blonde could only say, which was enough for her as she smiled brightly and turned her attention to the board as it was about to announce the next match.
As Naruto watched the names of the next match appeared, he wondered if may be Kakashi-sensei could reverse what that traitor had done to him and Ka'a. He pushed the thought aside as the next fight was about to begin.
The next fighters were...
Zaku Abumi and Aburame Shino
Author's Note:
The lullaby is from the album Jewel Lullaby, and the song is Brahm's Lullaby.