"..." Normal chat.
ABC. Thought.
Chapter 18
Next morning.
Alright, if he goes right then I'll go left. and then...
"Stop."
While in the middle of a friendly match, we hear Kakashi calling for us from outside.
"Your moveset. It looks unnatural."
Therefore he comments about my clunky movements.
"Unnatural?"
"To what I've witnessed yesterday."
And my head tilts, not understating a word he says.
Yesterday? What is he talking about?
After spending a good while thinking, I figure out that Kakashi had followed me to the lake and saw my fight against Sasuke that noon.
Of course! I was too focus on the fight to notice his presence!
"Anyways, the problem is..."
Ignoring my annoyed face, Kakashi points out my flaws. And that my actions weren't running smoothly because I was too focus on countering Sasuke's attack to do anything else.
To make it simple, I'm playing it too safe. That's why it's been fifteen minutes into the battle and I've yet to land a hit on my opponent.
"But that's what training is about. Right? To enhance our critical thinking instead of mindlessly beating someone up."
In my defense, this is a friendly match so there's no point in going all out. Still, both of them don't fancy my overly defensive method and demand a change.
"If you intend to waste any more of my time. Then leave."
Sasuke's expression clearly shows that he's the most displeased. And I can feel his intense glare's piercing through my soul.
"...It's not like that."
When looking at Kakashi, I notice that he's staring back at me with an emotionless face. And I bet that guy is trying to guilt trip me into not taking Sasuke's training seriously.
"Alright, fine. If you want me to fight for real. So be it."
Hearing so, Kakashi's face brightens up almost immediately. After ordering us to go again, he returns to his old spot with a notebook in hand. Having prepared to grade my abilities.
"Ready, go!"
The moment Kakashi gives us a signal, I charge forward and aim for a hit on Sasuke's face. However, my fist misses and he counters me with a punch to my noses.
"Hmph!"
Sasuke spins around to land a kick on my side. To dodge it, I jump and he follows. So that he can get behind me and delivers series of kick combo on my back. Sending me back to the ground.
"Ugh!"
After landing on my feet, I look up to find my opponent and see a foot is flying toward to my face. Quickly I block his attack with my arms but still get pushed backward.
Having locked me into a tough spot, Sasuke does several hand signs and I recognize those instantly.
That damned jerk! He's going to use Ninjutsu in a Tatjutsu-only match!
It annoys me even more when Kakashi's acting nonchalant to whatever that is about to happen.
Screw the rule then.
So I pull out some shuriken and kunai from my pocket to throw at Sasuke. Waiting for him to stop casting his Ninjutsu to dodge the flying blades, I dash forward and punch him hard in the stomach.
Gotcha!
Due to the impact, his puffed cheeks vanish and the ninjutsu is cancelled. Taking the chance that Sasuke's crouching in pain, I try to knee him on the face. But he sweeps my leg and I fall flat on the floor.
To keep a safe distance, he jumps backward while I get back up. Now both of us are back to our starting point, with addition of bruises and messy clothes.
The fight goes on until Kakashi tells us to stop. Once putting the notebook back inside his jacket, he turns to me.
"I shall take it from here. Good work."
Then, Kakashi leads Sasuke away for their upcoming lesson.
"Oh, okay."
Upon not receiving a single comment from him on my performances, I can't help but feeling disappointed.
From that day on, Kakashi starts requesting for I and Sasuke to compete with each other in any type of sport he can think of. From long and short dashing, to tree and mountain climbing, swimming, or shuriken throwing.
Then it turns into a complete different story when we're tasked to collect honey from the local wasps nests.
"Wasps nests? Are you kidding me?!"
"Does this face look like I'm joking?"
Despite our heavy objections, Kakashi insists that it's a good opportunity for us to enhance our skills and senses, plus a delicious reward if we succeed.
"Fine. We'll give it a try."
Except that no teamwork is involved when the rule's changed in the middle of the mission, all thanks to Sasuke who keeps complaining that everything is too easy.
Therefore we have to fight against each other over the rare honey. And almost killing ourselves in progress by falling off a cliff while trying to get away from the angry wasps.
"Ugh! This is ridiculous...!"
In the end that operation failed horribly, with no honey but stings and bruises all over our bodies. But we had fun, for me at least. Such a pity that innocent moments like these never lasted too long.
In one morning.
"So this is Chidori..."
While watching him performing the technique, Nina comments in awe.
"...Such a shame that Chakra Induction Paper didn't work."
Without possessing Chakra, Nina can't use the same method as him to figure out her nature affinity. So the only way is through self-research, with extreme patient.
"Does it hurt when you keep holding lightning like that?"
"Not really."
Feeling uncomfortable when being stared at, Sasuke deactivates his Chidori and walks away.
Ever since being able to use Chidori, his arm starts covering in white bandage and it gets worse as day goes by. Whenever finishes training with Kakashi, Sasuke will find a corner to sit down and treat his wound.
"Lightning seems cool. I wonder what my natural affinity is going to be."
While Nina sits beside him and watches. Sometimes she tries asking him about some stuff related to his new technique but he never responds truthfully. Always keeping everything to himself.
"Who knows. But more importantly..."
His speech stops once seeing Nina stands up abruptly. She's looking around the area, her calm demeanor's replaces with a serious expression which he rarely sees.
And seconds later, Gaara shows up at the spot.
"Gaara? Why are you here?"
Therefore Sasuke steps forward to greet the unwelcome guest. While Nina's swiftly withdraws to the back, trying not to get into eye contact with the sand shinobi like she's afraid of him.
"What is your motive? Why do you seek strength?"
Gaara questions him in return, though Sasuke doesn't have any obligation to answer him either.
"Do not forget that you are my prey."
After giving him a warning about their upcoming battle, Gaara leaves.
"Why are you so afraid of him? Have you two fought before?"
When Sasuke approaches Nina, he realizes that her hands are trembling in fear.
"Me against him? No way! It's because of those soulless eyes, I bet his stare can kill."
Nina tries to turn the whole thing into a joke. But it doesn't sound very convincing.
"Hey, Sasuke. A moment?"
Then, Kakashi walks up to them and orders him to fetch some extra water so that they can have soup for lunch. And because the lake is far away, Sasuke gets moving immediately.
When he returns, both Nina and Kakashi are nowhere in sight.
Strange. Where did they go?
Getting curious about their mysterious disappearance, Sasuke decides to go look for them. Soon he finds those two are standing on a cliff not too far away and seem to be discussing about something.
What's going on?
Quickly, Sasuke hides behind a boulder nearby to eavesdrop on their conversation. Though it's not easy from this distance as he can barely hear what their topic is about.
The moment Nina turns around and their eyes meet, Kakashi speaks up.
"You can come out now, Sasuke."
Without a choice, Sasuke reveals himself to them. And from the look on his face, they can tell that he's taken interested in their stories.
"It's nothing for you to concern."
Therefore Kakashi states. He doesn't want his student to bother himself over anything other than his special training.
"Whatever."
Since there's nothing more to be done, Sasuke returns to their camping spot by himself. Yet for the whole way back, he can't stop thinking about Nina's and Kakashi's troubled expressions throughout their last conversation.
At night.
When getting ready for bed, Nina sees Sasuke's sitting alone on top of a boulder watching the stars up above. And his hand is caressing his neck, where the cursed mark is.
"You're thinking of using that to fight Gaara, aren't you."
Hearing her voice echoing from below, his gaze turns to her.
"And what if I will? Are you going to stop me?"
He's already suspected that she knows something about the seal when he catches her glimpse on his neck from time to time, shortly after their reunion.
But how? Who could have told her?
And Sasuke turns his suspicion to one of his teammates. It's unlikely to be Naruto since he's too busy training for the Chunin exam to see her.
Is it Sakura?
A certain pink-haired kunoichi then comes into his mind. Because Nina and her often hang out together, she could have been the one who spoiled it.
"Who am I to stop you?"
Nina's answer snaps him out of his thought and he turns away.
"Good. At least your brain still functions."
Then everything falls quiet, until Nina speaks up again. Her voice sounds so soft that it feels almost like a murmur.
"I'm sorry... for not being there for you guys. The Chunin exam, I mean."
Suddenly being reminded of those memories from the forest, Sasuke smirks bitterly.
"Hmph! You're acting as if your appearance would change anything."
Perhaps it would have turned out worse. People had died, and Nina wouldn't be an exception.
Next morning.
When the sun hasn't fully raised, we're requested to train by ourselves because Kakashi has to leave for something urgent. And after having our breakfast, we start with our daily morning workouts.
"How about we have a match?"
Suddenly, Sasuke suggests us to fight. And I'm about to say yes to his offer. He presents the rule, which is that we're going to use our forbidden techniques to decide the winner.
"No, I'm not going to play that game."
Therefore I back out instantly.
"Come on. Don't tell me you're not curious."
He tries persuading me by pointing out the similarity between our abilities, which boosts the user's strength and speed immensely before leaving them in a devastated state.
With the seal activated, Sasuke will have no chakra. Similar to how I have no Ki to cast any Ninjutsu.
"You always saying about wanting to learn more of that power. Now is your chance."
And he knows that I'm also interested in the cursed seal's capacity, comparing to what I am possessing.
"Fine, but only a for a bit. Okay?"
In the end, I give in to his temptation. Despite knowing full well that I'm going to regret it, a lot.
"Ready... Go!"
The fight's starts as soon as Sasuke's voice fades. He activates his cursed seal and charges at me. So I power up as well to take him down.
"Wham!"
Our fists collide, one after another and they're getting faster. It makes us realize that not only speeds, but our strengths are also matched. Then, we keep on going for awhile, until I've had enough and break out of it.
"Heh...!"
Instead of chasing after me to finish the fight, Sasuke stands there whispering something to himself and laughs.
What's wrong with him all of the sudden?
Frozen on the spot I watch him. The ringing in my ears worsen as his laughter gets louder and crazier.
Don't tell me he's-
That's when I realize that Sasuke's enjoying the power Orochi has given him.
This is my fault!
If Sasuke relies on that cursed seal more than he originally does, I won't be so sure what is waiting for us in the future.
What should I do?
Will Sasuke continue abusing this power from now on? Obviously yes, no matter what it takes.
But what I'm concern the most is that...
Will the story somehow get twisted thanks to this event? Probably yes. And I'm too scared to imagine the possibilities.
How am I suppose fix this?
And my panic plan is to crush that crazy idea of his. By proving that the seal is not so incredible like Sasuke thinks it it.
While Sasuke's fascinating about his gifted power, suddenly Nina's body flares up.
"What the-?!"
Within a blink of an eye, she disappears from her spot then reappears right before his face. Seizing his neck and throws him onto the ground. The impact is so powerful that the earth below them shatter into pieces.
However unlike the last time they fight, it doesn't hurt and Sasuke smirks. He sweeps her legs and kicks her off to escape from being pinned down.
Quickly Sasuke gets back on his feet and waits for her to charge at him again. When Nina gets near, he steps aside to get behind her and elbow her back. Unfazed by his attack, however, she spins around to kick him flying away.
What's happening? She's stronger and faster than before.
He's shocked when seeing Nina starts coughing out blood, despite barely receiving damage. That must means she's exceeding her limit.
"Let's just stop."
Before things get out of hand, Sasuke offers a truce.
Yet Nina doesn't listen and keeps on attacking him. So he has to fight back to defense himself. As running away is not an option because no matter how far he goes, she will always catch up.
"What is this? I was only gone for ten minutes and you two were already trying to kill each other?"
A smoke bomb's thrown into the battle and interrupting them both immediately. As soon as the smoke fades, they see Kakashi's standing in between them. His hand catches Nina's fist when it's about to reach to Sasuke's face.
"Do you mind explaining what's going on?"