16 Chapter Sixteen

He was used to constant aches and pains, the pain in his joints, the misery in his head- he could only remember two instances in his short existence when he had felt marginally alright- and that had lasted as long as it took for Sasuke or Them to harass him back into misery again. So the constant burning of his leg and stomach was nothing new, merely a nuisance, an inconvenience. Naruto kept the leg slightly raised from the ground, putting as little pressure upon it as he could without it being obvious, though there was little he could do about the sight of it, and was aware that eyes occasionally fell upon it. The pants leg was split open from his upper thigh down below his knee, and the gash was revealed along the length of it. Sasuke had cleaned and bandaged it, but a stain of blood had traced the length of it so that all knew exactly how long the wound was.

He glanced up from beneath his bangs to take another look at the mark on Sasuke's neck- the area around it was slightly red and every few moments Sasuke's jaws would clench- rather minutely- one who didn't know him would not even notice. But Naruto did know, and he understood that the mark sent spasms of pain through Sasuke even though his demeanor did not outwardly show it. Though he had asked where the strange mark had come from, Sasuke had not said and he was left with a rather certain feeling that the mark would prove to be a malady in both their cases. And since he was pretty sure that Sasuke hadn't stopped somewhere and gotten a tattoo, he was left with the reasonable assumption that someone had put it there, most likely against his will. His black eyes were trained stoically on all the occupants in the room that waited along with them. Sasuke's eyes followed someone, and Naruto looked to see that they followed Sakura, who was moving up to that blond girl she used to hang with. If anyone looked worse than him, it was probably Sakura. Half of her face was swollen, her hair had been lopped off by what must have been a kunai, and her clothes were filthy. Absolutely filthy.

The blond haired girl's face was turning red as her mouth moved, hands flying about in outraged expressions. Her two Teammates came up behind her, the chunky one and the one with the black hair pulled up. They looked like they wanted to avoid a confrontation, and so did Sakura, by the way she put up her hands in a gesture that seemed to tell the blond girl to relax. Naruto didn't know. Although the girl was shouting, and he did see from behind his bangs that others were looking, he couldn't hear a lick of it. He couldn't hear anything except for the sound of Them- They blotted out every sound, he had gone momentarily deaf except for Them.

GAARAGAARAGAARA

He didn't look- he was determined not to look, to continue to stare at the blond girl as she pointed at Sasuke in anger, her lips pulling back in a rather alarming snarl. The boy with the white puppy was approaching her in clear interest. She must be so loud-

GAARAGAARAGAARAGAARAGAARA

No, he mustn't look. The dog boy seemed to listen to what the girl was saying, his expression clouding over as he threw glances in Sasuke's direction. His mouth too moved as he seemed to address Sakura.

Maybe if he just looked a little, just a glance, he would look away immediately after he'd had a peek, just a little look...

Naruto's eyes darted away from the blond girl and fell on the red-headed jinchuuriki. He meant to look away as he had planned, it was just supposed to be a quick glance, nothing more, but the Sand-nin was staring right back at him, and he could no longer look away- no...he didn't want to look away.

He wanted to kill him. He wanted to kill him so bad- as a matter of fact- he had to do it. He had to do it like he had to breath, or he had to shower, or he had to clean. It had to be done. Things would be good if he could kill this person and They agreed. In fact, just wanting to kill this person made him feel good, the constant pain in his head had momentarily ceased, his leg no longer throbbed with each beat of his heart, everything had a soft glow to it. If they would just let him cut his throat, let his warm blood spill over his hands; Naruto's mouth filled with saliva and his hands began to rub over one another as if he could feel the blood on them and he was rubbing it into his skin like the lotion he had seen some girls put on. If they would just let him pluck out those green eyes, if they would just let him shove his hands into his stomach... He was wringing his fingers now, his stomach cramping harshly. He didn't feel so good now. He needed to kill this person now, and who was going to stop him? They wanted- no needed him to do this, and what They wanted They-

Someone grabbed his arm in a rather forceful grip, jerking him out of his wanting, causing sound to return to him, loud and intrusive, and his hands flew to his ears to temper the barrage of sound that assaulted him.

"You're a crazy fuck you hear me?" Someone was screeching, and he looked up to see that it was the blond girl still, her face absolutely livid, and her teammate was holding her back as her blue eyes seemed to try to burn a hole into Sasuke. It was Sasuke who had him by the arm, and was pulling him toward another door, which was now open with a chunin ushering the genin through. Eyes were on all of them. Naruto blanched and lowered his head, smoothing down his hood. He was standing out- people were looking at him.

"...Kill that bitch..." Sasuke was muttering as he pulled him through into another room, much larger than the one that they had been holed in for the last fifteen minutes. They stood in front of a group of chunin, jounin of the candidates, and the Hokage. His headache was back, his leg and stomach hurt- his shoulders slumped as he peeked over at the Sand-nin. He shouldn't have looked. But now he had to kill the Sand-nin. Ever since he had first come across the Sand-nin on the side of the street, the feeling had grown- now it was almost unbearable. His mind began to run wildly through scenarios in which the two of them would face off. He knew the other would be powerful, he was a jinchuuriki after all, and Naruto knew that he himself was weak, but They would help him, wouldn't They?

YESYESYES. WeWILLhelpyou DESTROYhimKILLHIMbleedhimdry

This was an Exam- they were put up against others...surely by chance he would have to fight the red-head. His eyes darted up, he turned his head quickly then lowered it back to staring at the ground. He had counted twenty-one genin in that glance. He had read that usually the Third Exam had about eight participants and no doubt there would be a Preliminary round to cut down the numbers to eight. But the numbers were off- would someone have to fight twice?

As if to answer his question, he noticed that the one called Kabuto was turning away from the line and walked toward the door. The others around him look surprised and a little disgusted. He must have quit. Naruto lowered his head back to the ground. Fine, that left it down to twenty- twelve had to go. He just had to make it to the finals. No one would try to stop them , not even the sensei's. His eyes drifted up to look at all the teachers there, looking for the the jounin with the sand mark on his hitai-ate, finding him standing next to a woman with red eyes and black hair. On his other side... Naruto's eyes widened and he ducked his head, heart pounding madly in his ears. The man standing next to him had long black hair pulled up in a high ponytail, pale skin and sharp dark eyes. Change his features a bit, narrow his face, take the hair out of the ponytail...and he looked eerily similar to the man that had attacked them in the Forest of Death. Naruto smoothed down his hood and peeked out at him. Yes... he had the exact same smile too, and he was wearing a Otogakure hitai-ate. It was the same man- he was sure of it.

"What is it Naruto?"

He jumped slightly, just noticing that Nabeshin was at his side. He glanced over at Sasuke, who seemed very intent on whatever the man in front of them was saying, completely unaware that the one that attacked them was now pretending to be a jounin. Should he warn someone? He should at least tell Sasuke, but he didn't want to attract attention by whispering, and he couldn't do the same toward Nabeshin. Later then, he decided. He would tell them during a fight, which was safest.

XXXXXxXXXXX

She could barely pay attention to the words of the jounin standing in front of them- she was too sick from the mortification that seemed to fill her up to the point of physical illness. Damn Ino! Why couldn't she mind her own business and keep her opinions to herself?

"What the hell is going on?" Ino charged up to her, face starting to turn red.

"Calm down," She approached her. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about? Nothing to worry about? I see him treating my best friend like shit and his other Teammate like an object, and you tell me there's nothing to worry about? " Sakura glanced around sickly, noticing that all the occupants of the room were now looking at them, including Sasuke, who's face remained cold and expressionless, as if Ino weren't discussing him. Naruto wasn't looking at them at all, his eyes were focused on something else entirely.

"Look-" Sakura began.

"No, you look! You never used to let people walk all over you, especially not boys! Now you need to wake up and see those two for what they really are. They're crazy and they don't care about you."

"What happened?" Sakura groaned as Kiba walked over to them, eyes curious.

"Sasuke's abusing his Teammates! He treats them like shit- I wouldn't be surprised if he's beating them."

"Hey-" Sakura tried to cut in, feeling anger starting to rise.

"He tried to attack me for standing up against him while he choked her! His own teammate!"

"Well this isn't much of a surprise," Kiba remarked in disdain. "I've seen the way he treats Uzumaki-"

"Just stay out of our business!" she had finally snapped, feeling blood collect in her face.

Ino paled, her blues eyes narrowing. "Oh wow..." she breathed. "For a second, you sounded just like him." Her lips thinned. "I warned you." Her eyes moved to glare behind Sakura, and she turned to see Sasuke gaze coldly at the blond as he grabbed Naruto by the arm and yanked him toward the now open door, where a chuunin was beginning to usher them through. Most of them were still staring back at them, not wanting to miss any more of the drama that Ino had successfully brought forth.

Damn her.

Sakura blinked several times, glancing carefully at her Teammates. Sasuke was listening intently to what the sickly chuunin was saying while Naruto was staring at the ground, most likely not hearing a word of what the man was saying. She hated that; the world seemed to allow Naruto to move through it with as little attention to detail as possible. She noticed that the heel of his wounded right leg was slightly raised from the ground, and at small intervals it would lower then rise quickly as if he was constantly reminding himself that the leg was indeed injured. But his face did not change; he was standing very close to Sasuke, almost shoulder to shoulder, except that he was an inch or three shorter than the Uchiha. She was standing about three and a half feet from him- there would always seem to be a barrier between them. She was nothing. They held secrets from her, like the strange kid with the brown hair and lazy eyes that had approached them right before the first exams. Or this person named Nabeshin that was occasionally referred to. She glanced around quickly but did not see the boy within the group of them. Her eyes drifted back to the blond.

God she hated him. Her mouth filled with bile. She wished he was dead.

She stopped the thought before it could go any further- it not being a particularly nice thought, and her face flushed in embarrassment over the petty wish.

As if he could hear them, Naruto's head lifted and he looked over at her from behind strands of blond hair. Those bruised blue eyes seemed to trap her- she could not look away from them. She hated that inner strength that he seemed to have, the kind that allowed him to fight despite the fact that he seemed scared of everything and everyone. She hated that he seemed to bear his injuries with a silent grace that she knew she may not have. He blinked watery eyes at her and turned to stare back at the ground, and she was released from his scrutiny.

Suddenly Sasuke stiffened, his dirt smeared face paling as his hand flew to his neck, covering the mark, his shoulders hunching under the apparent pain.

"Sasuke!" she gasped quietly and stepped over to him. "You should tell sensei about this. You should quit before that-" Her words died in her mouth at the look he sent her as he squeezed his neck. Naruto looked over at him, eyes gazing at Sasuke, then drifting away, seeming not to care what was causing his Teammate pain. "But what if something bad happens to you? Nothing good could possibly come from that mark!"

Sasuke's hand shot out and gripped her shoulder as he hissed in gentle undertones, "Shut your mouth." Sakura pressed her lips together as she stared back at those dark eyes. Sasuke was different- was even colder now than he was before Orochimaru had given him that mark. She was frightened. "I must fight, and I won't let you or anyone else get in my way. I am an Avenger. Never forget that." His eyes seemed to command her obedience. Who would help her? Not Naruto- as Sasuke released her she saw that the hooded blond was looking their way again, separate from the situation, an uncaring observer- except, Naruto looked back at the ground before him, head lowered as usual, and from his profile she saw his bruised blue eyes dart up, looking at the platform where the Hokage and jounin were. Sakura's eyes darted over to them, and caught what seemed like the ending of a discussion, and brief, wary glances over at Sasuke.

Relief rushed through her. Of course the Hokage was aware of the situation. They would help Sasuke, they would help alleviate some the darkness that seemed to be gathering about them. He would be more reasonable, more open to ideas, more willing to include her on things. There was no helping Uzumaki though.

"There are no rules to these fights, they will continue until one dies or admits defeat. I may intervene in a fight if I feel there is a clear winner. This will help reduce the body count." The sick ninja turned toward a wall, just as a square portion of it rose, revealing a flat screen. "This is our electric scoreboard, which will display the matches. And without further ado, these are the participants of the first match." The board flashed and two names appeared.

Uchiha Sasuke Vs. Akado Yayoi.

Sakura's eyes darted to the older guy in the dark shades as he walked into the center of the room then at Sasuke, who was joining him, the katana held in his right hand.

"If everyone will please clear the floor and head up to the second," the sickly ninja suggested after a cough. Everyone turned and headed for the staircase. Sakura spotted the red-haired sand-nin named Gaara pause to gaze at something over her shoulder, and she quickly turned to see that he was looking at Naruto, who hadn't moved with the others toward the staircase. He was still looking at the floor- or seeming to.

"Come on Naruto," she said, and he turned and looked at her- his eyes glassy and distant. But he had heard her; he turned and followed after her with a limp, smoothing his hood down, his thoughts his own.

XXXXXXxXXXXX

As he moved to the middle of the floor, Sasuke twisted Nabeshin's katana in his hand, getting a feel for the weight, and finding it a bit heavier than his own. The weight was off to him, the blade was an inch or two longer than his own, and he fought back a grimace, wondering if he should have left it with Naruto.

"Sasuke."

He looked up from the blade to see Kakashi-sensei next to him, his eye looking off at the group of genin heading up the stairs.

"Don't use the Sharingan."

Sasuke lowered the katana in surprise, a question about to burst from his lips. Why would Kakashi-sensei say that? But then, of course he knew. The cursed seal. So much for shutting Sakura up. "You know then."

The silver haired jounin nodded. "Yes. If you activate that seal it may kill you." Even now the pain in his neck seemed to increase. Yeah, he could see it doing that- but he could also see himself mastering it. "If that happens, I'm going to jump in and stop the match." He began to walk away toward the stairs. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared in silent contemplation at Nabeshin's blade. This left him in quite a predicament. If the cursed seal reacted to his use of chakra, then not only couldn't he use his sharingan, but he wouldn't be able to use any jutsu as well.

Akado Yayoi stood across from him, the referee at their left. "Ready?" he asked in a rather raspy voice.

Sasuke stared at his reflection in Nabeshin's blade. He would have to completely rely on it then, and once again a wave of appreciation moved through him for his dead cousin. If he had not shown them how to use the blade, he would most likely only have kunai, shuriken, and his fists to fight with. He lowered the blade and grinned at the genin across from him.

"You ready?" the genin asked gruffly, expression hidden behind a cloth that hung from the bridge of his nose. Though he was a leaf-nin, he must have been so far removed from the age group that Sasuke was familiar with. No doubt he was as weak as his quitting Teammate Yakushi.

"Very," he replied.

"Begin," the referee said, jumping back.

Akado immediately tossed several shuriken his way and Sasuke swung the katana, knocking them all away from him. The cursed seal sent a twinge of pain through his neck and chest at the swing but he ignored it as Akado rushed toward him with a fist. With his left hand Sasuke sent several of his own kunai at him then followed them. Akado dodged the kunai and narrowly missed a beheading, jerking his body back and planting a foot in Sasuke's stomach. The Uchiha flew back several feet and landing on the balls of his feet, skidding to a stop, managing to take a breath after it had been knocked out, feeling another surge of pain from the seal, and looked up to see that Akado was almost on him.

He jerked back, trying to give himself enough space to bring up the katana, but he was too late- Akado grabbed him by the throat in a rather crushing grip. His hand chopped down on Sasuke's wrist as he was bringing the katana up. His fingers spasmed on the hilt, going numb and released the weapon-Sasuke could hear it clatter to the ground noisily. But what had his attention, as he brought his knee up to Akado's stomach, was how low his chakra reserves were becoming.

Akado gave a chuckle. "That's right. I'm draining your chakra, my own special technique. You're so pathetic."

Sasuke made himself dead-weight, startling his captor, who jerked forward under his weight, falling into the senbon needle Sasuke produced from his thigh pocket. Akado jumped away, pulling the senbon from his breast with a hiss, and Sasuke was allowed to breath.

"This is it?" he heard someone on the second floor say, and he looked up, searching briefly for the owner of that inquiry. All the faces looked down at him, most indifferent, Ino glared along with Kiba. Shikamaru looked bored and Naruto was staring at him with empty, tired eyes, hands gripping the railing silently.

He wasn't weak- he could hold back the curse seal. All he needed was to take this guy out nice and quick, fast enough that he wouldn't be able to drain him when he made contact. Sasuke summoned his chakra letting it run through him as he charged the other genin. Akado rushed him, left hand holding his right wrist where he was no doubt gathering chakra so that he could drain him. Sasuke put on an extra burst of speed, reaching the other more quickly, savoring the small noise of surprise Akado made as he appeared above and behind him. Sasuke swung a chakra induced kick just below the nape of Akado's neck. There was a snap, he actually felt it reverberate through his heel, and Akado fell forward limply, but Sasuke grabbed an arm just as he felt the hot rush of the cursed seal move up his neck, and tossed the limp genin up into the air like a rag-doll. As he jumped up after him, he saw out of the corner of his eyes, Kakashi-sensei-sensei take a step forward, and he remembered over the wild rush of power that the jounin would stop the fight if the cursed seal took over.

Just let me finish this, he thought, and as he kicked Akado to the ground, forced the seal back, forced the burning rush to recede, though it pained him to do so. He landed rather sloppily, his body suddenly feeling more weary than it had just before the cursed seal began to advance, and he looked up to see the referee kneeling by Akado's broken body, the genin's left arm and leg twisted in a clearly broken fashion. The referee gestured for several medic-nins to come over as he straightened from his crouch and turned solemn eyes to Sasuke. "Winner of first match," he called loudly. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke rubbed his neck and moved as calmly as he could over to Nabeshin's katana, which lay almost forgotten amongst kunai and shuriken.

"Impressive," Kakashi-sensei's voice came from behind him, and he jumped slightly, turning to look up at the man, who had the orange book in his hand. A medic nin approached them.

"Let us take care of your wounds."

Sasuke sheathed Nabeshin's blade and shook his head. "Don't bother- you should pay more attention to Akado." At this the medic looked surprised, and his dark eyes darted to where the other medics were placing Akado in the stretcher. The medic looked back at him, then at Kakashi-sensei, before walking away to the others. Sasuke frowned, then felt his expression go blank as the medic simply pulled the sheet over Akado's head and body, and they silently carried him out of the room.

He had killed him. My second kill, he thought, feeling some unknown emotion flow through him. He glanced up at the other genin, and saw that most were either looking at him in silent contemplation, or staring in silent shock after the body. Naruto was staring after Akado's body too, looking his usual miserable, but then his blue eyes darted over to someone else, and Sasuke realized that he was staring at Gaara again. Naruto's hands, which had been gripping the metal railing began to twist and wring at it as he and the Sand-nin stared at one another. A funny expression was starting to morph on the blond's face, one Sasuke didn't like, and he headed for the stairs, only to have Kakashi-sensei's heavy hand stop him.

"We're going to the back so I can seal up that curse. Come on, don't argue," he said as Sasuke tried to yank his shoulder out of the older man's grip. "I need to take care of that now before it's too late, so don't be acting selfishly."

"Let me just give this to Naruto," he snapped, holding up the katana, and the silver haired jounin conceded, having glanced up at the hooded blond, a frown appearing on his face. Sasuke looked up and saw that Naruto was no longer standing in the same place.

He was in fact, making his way over to the Sand-nin, practically bumping genin out of his way, seeming not to notice them. Gaara was standing there with a particularly wild look in his eyes, the large gourd on his back rattling as if there was something in there, and the sandy haired girl was saying something close to his ear. He did not seem to hear her, and his male teammate was shrinking away as Naruto approached, clearly wanting to separate himself from whatever was about to happen.

Sasuke sped up the stairs, body aching terribly, but knowing he had to stop whatever it was that Naruto was attempting to do. Kakashi-sensei made it up there first, along with a Suna jounin. Kakashi-sensei grabbed Naruto's shoulder, pulling him to the side of his determined path, startling the blond, who jumped, turning wild eyes up at the jounin. He jerked his body from Kakashi-sensei, crashing into the wall, and staying there, eyes darting madly to all the other genin, no doubt believing he was being attacked.

The Suna jounin was standing in front of Gaara, blocking him from view. Sasuke reached Naruto and grabbed his arm, yanking him away from Kakashi-sensei, who was attempting to talk to him, and pulled him a ways away from the others.

"What did I tell you about that guy?" he hissed, shoving Nabeshin's katana into the blond's shaking hands. Naruto was blinking rapidly, as if he was having a hard time seeing. Sasuke shook him roughly. "Get a hold of yourself! You may be next, and you can't lose."

Naruto seemed to hear him, shaking his head as if to clear away whatever was going on in there and smoothed his hood down, since it had partially fallen back, revealing some of his hair. Kakashi-sensei approached, his eye solemn and watchful, darting between the two of them.

"Do you have some vendetta against the Sand-nin that I don't know about, Naruto?" He asked calmly.

Naruto made no reply, and Sasuke only scowled, his body aching even more now, with the extra adrenaline leaking away. The jounin sighed.

"We need to go Sasuke."

Naruto's head darted up in alarm as Sasuke released him and moved toward the stairs. Behind him he saw that the sand jounin was moving away from the red-head, whose face was contorted in rage, green eyes focused on the back of Naruto's head. "I'll be back," he told Naruto, whose face was a sickly yellow. "I'm just going to get this taken care of," he gestured toward his neck. "Then I'll be back. Stay with Sakura, and stop looking at that guy." Said girl was standing not too far from them, eyes clouded over with concern. "Don't lose your fight."

Naruto looked down at the ground, hands gripping Nabeshin's katana to his chest as his shoulders hunched, looking like the poster child for dejection.

He turned and followed Kakashi-sensei down the hall to another door, glancing back to see that Naruto was still standing there, Sakura standing near him, looking like she wanted to say something to him.

"Let's make this quick," he muttered to the man, ignoring the unreadable look the jounin sent his way.

"Yes. Let's."

XXXXXXXxXXXXXX

Naruto watched Sasuke go behind what was proving to be the second worst headache he had ever felt so far, one that seemed to rocket between both ears, bouncing around inside his skull. His eyes watered from the force of it, They were noisy, a cacophony, though this time They didn't block out all sound. He could still hear, just not very well.

"I should probably go see what is going on with Sasuke," a voice said near him, and he glanced up to see that it was Nabeshin, looking concerned. "That mark seems ominously familiar. Should I go?" the ghost asked, looking at him with his seemingly black eyes, rust coming from his mouth. Naruto nodded, cradling the side of his head with his left hand and moved to the rail. He could feel eyes on him, and it wasn't just Them. He had foolishly attracted attention when he had gone after the red-head. He had just wanted him so bad, wanted to destroy him, couldn't wait for a match to do it. Now they were looking at him, thinking about him. He wanted to be back in his room, where it was safe.

"Hey Naruto?" It was Sakura, standing near him as two other genin moved to the floor, one looking more familiar than the other. "Did Sasuke tell you about the mark he has on his neck?" Naruto lifted his head and looked at the girl. She swallowed and seemed to make an effort to stare back. "Did he?" she asked again, and he shook his head carefully. She rubbed her arms as if she had a sudden chill. "It was during the fight in the Forest of Death, with that creepy guy." She glanced around quickly, clearly not wanting to be overheard as she stepped closer to him. He resisted the urge to step away, mostly because now he could hear her better since They were making such a racket in his head. "His name is Orochimaru, and he bit Sasuke on the neck, giving him that mark which he called the 'cursed seal.' "

He wasn't listening to her anymore- the name Orochimaru rang some very annoying bells in his already aching head. He had never heard the name spoken before, but he had read it before, in a ninja history book, in fact. Orochimaru had been- or still was, a Sannin- one of the three, though he was exiled for some crimes- experimenting on children, he believed. His blue eyes darted to where all the jounin and the Hokage stood, and the man who he now understood was Orochimaru, was gone. His eyes fell on a ninja, the one from the first Exam, the one with scars on his face, and their eyes connected. Naruto stepped back from the railing, out of sight.

Sakura looked like she was about to say more, but there was an explosion down below, where a match had been taking place. Sakura turned, looking down at the match. "Oh, Shino won."

He didn't know or care to know who Shino was.

From the corner of his eye he saw Kakashi-sensei approach, with no Sasuke.

"Is Sasuke-kun alright?" Sakura asked anxiously.

"Yep," Kakashi-sensei replied almost lazily. "He's resting in a hospital bed right now."

Naruto turned toward the door they had gone through, hoping to find Sasuke and get away from the other jinchuuriki before he did something to attract attention again, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Naruto shied away from it, putting too much weight on his wounded leg again, causing him to stumble.

"You should stay here," the silver haired jounin said in an unusually gentle voice. "Your match could be next." His dark eye drifted to Naruto's bandaged leg, and his brow furrowed in concern. Bile rose in Naruto's mouth, and he turned away, smoothing down his hood as he stared at the cracks in the wall he was leaning against attempting to ride the headache.

"Winner, Kankuro."

He wished he could get away from all these villagers- hated being around them. He was sure wherever Sasuke was, it was quiet, and there weren't any others around.

"Don't you want to see Sakura fight?" Kakashi-sensei's voice was too loud, making him jump, but he didn't turn to acknowledge that he had heard the man. He wished he was away, wished he was in his room, wished he was killing the red-head- He shook his head, trying to banish the thought before he turned to seek the other out. He had to wait- he would have his chance, he would get to fight the jinchuuriki. His headache eased a little, and sounds that he couldn't hear were now more audible- the sound of kunai striking one another, female grunts. Naruto lifted his head and pushed away from the wall, moving toward the rail until he could see the fight.

Sakura was fighting the noisy blond girl, both were beating each other bloody, though-he took a step closer, it seemed that Sakura was winning. She was certainly a better and more aggressive fighter than the blond, better than he remembered actually, and apparently better than the blond girl remembered too.

Naruto watched as Sakura grabbed the other girl by her long ponytail and yanked her head around, punching her in the face. The blond's head rocked back, face twisted in pain as her lip split, leg coming up and hooking around Sakura's neck. Both girls fell heavily to the ground, Sakura trying to roll out from under the blond, but the girl squeezed her leg, trapping Sakura for a brief moment as she lifted her hands in the form of a seal.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu," she called, and immediately both girls went limp. Then Sakura rolled out from under the blond's leg, standing up quickly with a grin that turned sour as she looked up at them, her eyes falling on him. Naruto stared back at the angry pale green eyes for a moment, seeing the hatred in them, then slipped away from the rail back into the gloom. He supposed Sakura had lost then. He didn't care- he just wanted to fight the red-head, then go home. Things would be good if he could do this. He headed farther down the hall just as a cramp seized his stomach, turning it into knots. He gagged, staggering against the wall, clutching his stomach with his other hand as he dry heaved through two more cramps. His headache was now worse than ever, his eyes dripped tears from the pressure of each heave. They were louder than ever- he couldn't hear anything but Them.

Two more cramps came then went- he could barely breath over the heaving...and then, it was as if something broke in him, like a damn being flooded over, chakra rushed through his body, from the very tips of his hair, which stood on end, down to the tips of his toes. The constant burning of his wounded leg stopped- he could feel the skin knit properly together. The exhaustion, bruises, and scrapes disappeared, his spine stiffening so that he was standing ramrod straight. His fingers dug into the wall that he had been kneeling against as he blinked rapidly. They had dropped down to an excited murmur, Their anticipation running through him. They were making him ready, ready to fight the red-headed jinchuuriki .

He turned to see that the leaf genin were crowding near Sakura and the blond, who were both laying against the wall up on the second floor.

"I can't believe they knocked each other out!" the chubby genin from Team Ten exclaimed as he kneeled down next to the blond girl.

"They'll be fine," Kakashi-sensei was saying, though he gestured for a medic to come, pointing at the blond girl's swollen and bloody face.

The other boy, possibly named Shikamaru- Naruto wasn't completely sure, stood up and sighed. "If not for Ino's kekkai genkai, I'm pretty sure Sakura would have won this fight. She's way more tough than I remember."

"Why thank you," Kakashi-sensei said cheerfully, pulling out the orange book as he too stood up. The one named Shikamaru turned as if looking for someone, and seemed to spot him, looking over at Naruto. Naruto lowered his head, smoothing down his hood, but his eyes darted about, searching for the other jinchuuriki. He spotted him- there he was- his jounin sensei still standing next to him. The red head was staring back at him, the whites of his eyes mostly red from agitated blood vessels.

He wanted to fly over there- he felt like he could fly right now, felt like a cup completely full to the rim with water. Any second it felt like chakra would come pouring out of him. He gripped Nabeshin's katana and wrung the hilt with his fingers. Mustn't go ever there, mustn't try to kill him yet.

"Aren't you going to make sure that your Teammate is okay?" Shikamaru asked, having walked over to him.

Naruto tore his eyes away from the red-head to look at the boy. His hands were in his pockets, his expression looking bored, but his eyes were sharp and they studied Naruto. Naruto glanced over at Sakura, still unconscious, noticing that others were back at the rails, looking down at what seemed to be another match. A gust of wind blew through the whole area, blowing back his hood. It felt good against his flushed skin, but he pulled his hood back up to cover his hair, which was still standing on end. Another gust came along with the clatter of weapons and Shikamaru turned and moved to the railing to see the fight.

"Winner, Temari."

"Ugh, so troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, looking down at the commotion that was starting down below. A Leaf girl had lost, and apparently the green clad boy didn't appreciate how the Suna girl had treated her.

"She gave her all in that battle! How could you treat her like that?"

The Suna girl leaned against her large fan and sneered. "Shut up loser and get her out of here." A look of rage flew through the green boy's face- one second he had been holding his Teammate, the next he was aiming a spinning kick at the girl, who held up her fan and blocked it.

"Lee, stop!" A similarly clad jounin dropped down to the first floor and approached. They looked like father and son.

Suddenly the red-head spoke. "Temari you've been declared the winner. Stop wasting time and get up here."

Naruto turned away and stared at a wall, purposefully giving the red-head his back. He mustn't look at him anymore. He was still so full of chakra, so ready to leap down there and fight everyone- he felt like he could clean the whole Uchiha compound twice over. He hoped he was next, he hoped it was against the red-head. He hoped-

Some more words were exchanged. And then he heard Shikamaru groan. He looked at the scoreboard.

Nara Shikamaru vs Kin Tsuchi.

He shut his eyes tight as a roar of anger rushed through him, some from Them, but some of his own. He needed to fight the Suna-nin! He needed to fight him so that he could go home, back to his room, back to covered windows- he buried his head in his hands, nails digging into his scalp in frustration.

"Naruto?" He didn't open his eyes or lift his head at Nabeshin's voice. "I've got some bad news. I followed Sasuke, and Hatake-san put another seal over the cursed seal, one that is supposed to contain the cursed seal's power should Sasuke accidentally activate it. But, according to your sensei, it will only be as effective as Sasuke's will. If Sasuke wants the cursed seal to take over, then..."

Naruto opened his eyes to see Shikamaru and his opponent standing across from one another. Both took out a shuriken and tossed it at one another. He supposed that must have been why Sasuke hadn't used any jutsu when he had fought that other Leaf-nin.

"The cursed seal came from this guy named Orochimaru, who used to be a Leaf Shinobi, but was banished, and is now the Kage for Hidden Sound. I can't believe Kakashi was going to fight him..." Nabeshin seemed to be talking to himself for a moment. "Anyway, I took the liberty of following him around a bit- damn it's been a long time since I've seen that guy, and I've got the sense that he's planning something big- way big. I'm sure the Hokage knows about it since Miturashi Anko let them know that he was in the Forest of Death." Nabeshin was silent a moment. "Though I couldn't care less if he's going to attack this village, I don't want that guy anywhere near Sasuke again. That cursed seal is bad news- nothing good could possibly come from the attentions of that man- er- Naruto?"

Just then a hand fell on his shoulder- why were people touching him so much today?- and he lowered his hands from his head and looked up to see that it was Kakashi-sensei again, looking concerned. He immediately noticed that everyone in the area was looking at him.

"Didn't you hear us calling you? You're up." Kakashi-sensei gestured toward the scoreboard, where his name and Inuzuka Kiba- a familiar name- was. His eyes darted to everyone- Shikamaru was back on the second floor looking a bit bloodier than when he had left- Ino and Sakura were conscious, both watching him but standing far from one another. "Do you want to forfeit?" Kakashi-sensei asked gently. Naruto shook his head, disappointment rushing through him. He had hoped he would be fighting the red-head, but it was apparently not meant to be. He would have to fight him in the finals and in the meantime, he needed something to take the edge off, let out a little bit of chakra so he wouldn't feel like he was going to explode.

Inuzuka and his dog- oh it was him, the one from Team Eight, was already down there, the white puppy in his arms, looking up at him. Naruto picked up Nabeshin's katana, which he had dropped, and hopped onto the rails, dropping down to the first floor. He landed on the balls of his feet, then straightened, frowning. Why hadn't he just taken the stairs?

"Are you ready?" the referee asked. Naruto smoothed down his hood and nodded, looking at Inuzuka from behind his bangs. The genin's face was unreadable as he stood there with the canine in his arms. "Alright. Begin!" The referee jumped back out of the way. Naruto unsheathed Nabeshin's blade and looked over at his opponent.

"We'll go easy on him eh Akamaru? Take him out with one punch. Shouldn't be too hard." The small puppy yipped, jumping from his arms to the ground. Naruto gazed at the dog, then at Inuzuka. He had seen him a couple times- he was always with the dog, apparently did missions with it. It was like an extension of him, like an arm or leg. If he cut it off, he imagined it would bleed profusely. The image of blood sent a rush of pleasure through him, and he shuddered, shaking his head just as Inuzuka struck. Naruto saw a fist come toward his face, and he tried to turn away, but he was too slow, and he was hit, the force of the blow knocking him several feet away.

The whole right side of his face went numb. He shook his head quickly, blinking away the black spots in his vision.

"Just forfeit before we have to do some serious damage to the class mental case," Inuzuka suggested, not unkindly.

Naruto did not reply, instead charging nimbly at the boy, dodging the dog and swinging the katana. Inuzuka slipped out of the way, Naruto only clipping a piece of the fur from around his hood and dodging another blow aimed at his head. Naruto leaped back from both boy and dog, sheathing Nabeshin's blade and making the signs for the Kage bunshin. He created three clones sending them to attack the dog boy, throwing punches and kicks. He blocked several, was hit by plenty, and guffawed at the weak hits. Naruto knew that unless the clones were doing jutsu, they physically would not do much damage. He simply didn't have the muscles in his arms and legs to cause pain like Sasuke did- if he wanted a hit to count, he always had to put chakra behind it- and the clones were unwilling to expend that much- especially when their goal was merely to distract the dog-boy.

The dog grabbed one of the clones by the leg, growling, and the clone paused to kick the dog away, putting some chakra behind the hit so that the dog yelped loudly. "Hey!" Kiba snapped, punching one clone away forcefully, then jumped over to the puppy. "You okay?" he asked the dog as Naruto leaped above them and a clone grabbed Inuzuka's leg. The dog boy turned aggressively toward the clone, but must have seen his shadow as he brought the katana down; the dog boy rolled out of the way, twisting his ankle from the clones grip- but not before Naruto got a piece of him. Though the katana was not his own, and felt strange to fight with, for that particular second, it felt like a mere extension of his arm. He felt the blade pass through flesh and bone, severing Inuzuka's pinky finger as he leaped out of the way, avoiding the clones, the puppy in his other arm.

Naruto stared down at the bloody digit, the droplets of blood that sprinkled around it. The blood was dark against the dirty floor. If only it were the red-head's blood. His lips turned up slightly.

"Quadruped no jutsu!" he looked up to see the dog boy crouching down like an animal on the ground, and with surprising speed he crashed into two of the clones, knocking them back. They staggered, frowned, then dissipated.

Inuzuka turned to him with a growl, canines seeming larger and longer than before. "Don't underestimate me- or Akamaru!" he growled. And it seemed that he was about to charge Naruto, leaning forward on both hands, then winced in pain, looking down at his right hand. His eyes went wide as he lifted the bloody, pinky-less hand up, seeming to just realize he was missing a digit. The dog barked madly at him, and Inuzuka's eyes darted to Naruto's feet, where his pinky lay next to.

"You're going to pay for that finger," he whispered harshly, rage passing through his face. Naruto cringed. It was easy to believe. But Naruto now understood Inuzuka's rather obvious weakness. The dog.

With his left hand the dog boy produced two pills, soldier pills, and tossed one to the puppy and swallowed one himself. Immediately the puppy's fur turned crimson, rising on it's back like an angered cat. It jumped on Inuzuka's back as he crouched there, barking as the dog boy made a seal. Then there were two Inuzuka's, looking more feral than ever.

"Quadruped no jutsu!" With more speed than before, both attacked, clawed hands crushing the ground where Naruto stood as the hooded blond leaped into the air, avoiding their attacks. Chagrin rushed through him- he had been hoping to keep a good eye on the dog- but now, with the two leaping around him, he couldn't tell which one was the dog and which was the actual human. One clawed hand caught him in the shoulder, twisting him to the ground. Naruto smacked onto the floor and rolled as he felt them come upon him, quickly doing a katon seal as he turned over on his back, seeing that one was directly above him. He brought his fingers to his mouth and blew a billow of fire directly into the dog boy, engulfing him in fire. The Inuzuka fell back, giving a rather human howl, and the other leaped upon him, batting away at the flames that burned away at his jacket. That was the one Naruto wanted- the one that would end this fight in his favor.

Naruto jumped to his feet, snatched the fallen katana, and with a burst of chakra to his legs and feet, rushed up to the one Inuzuka who was busy rolling the other to put out the flames- the one who wasn't cursing.

"Watch out!" Someone called, a female voice, and the dog in the guise of a human turned at that moment- saw the blade rushing toward him, and made to leap out of the way, but was too late. Naruto felt the blade pass through bone, heard the dog-like squeal as the dog fell away from his leg, which Naruto had managed to sever. The jutsu around the dog fell away, and once again it was a small white puppy minus one leg. The leg, which fell a few feet away, popped, and was once again the leg of a small dog.

Naruto moved over to the leg, and fought the urge to shudder as he picked it up with his hand- though he first covered that hand with his sweater so he didn't touch the dog's leg.

"AKAMARU!" The scream made Naruto jump, and he turned to see that the fire about Inuzuka had been put out, as well as his jutsu, leaving him with first and second degree burns, all superficial really- though he didn't seem to notice. His eyes were all for the dog bleeding profusely on the ground. He jumped to his feet and dropped down to the dog, seeming stuck between wanting to pick it up and being afraid to. Inuzuka pulled off his ruined bulky jacket, revealing a black shirt underneath as he frantically wrapped the bloody puppy up in it. "I need a medic!" he called frantically, standing up, eyes darting frantically about. The referee approached, giving a little cough.

"Do you forfeit this fight?" he asked. "The medic can't help unless the fight is over."

Inuzuka spun, eyes falling on him, looking as if he couldn't decide. Then his eyes fell on the leg dangling from Naruto's covered hand.

"Give that to me," he hissed venomously, taking a step toward him, but the referee grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.

"Do you forfeit?" The referee asked again. "Make it quick- your dog doesn't have much time."

The dog boy's face almost seemed to crumble as he looked down at the unconscious dog. "Yeah," he said gently. "I'm out." Then the rage returned to his face as he looked back over at Naruto. "Give me his leg." He commanded.

Naruto pulled his hood up over his head, smoothing it down as he looked down at the leg in his grasp. If only it had been the red-head. He looked up at the second floor where he knew the red-head was. They looked at one another, he watched as his folded arms clenched tighter as he stared back down at him. What were the odds that they would fight one another in the finals? What if they didn't? What if he was made to fight someone else? Pain lanced through him as They began to stir into the frenzy.

Forget the Exam's, he thought. They weren't important. He would have to fight him now.

"I'll take that," someone was gently tugging at the leg still in his hand. Naruto looked down at the hand, then followed it up to the person who it belonged to. The woman with red eyes. He released the hand and quickly moved away from her, passing Nabeshin as he headed for the stairs.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto paled. They had just said his name aloud. He pace quickened, and he rushed up the stairs. Everyone would be thinking about him. He moved in the opposite direction of everyone else, turning down the hall in which he had seen Sasuke go.

"Sakura's calling you," Nabeshin said behind him. Naruto paused, creating a clone and left it leaning against the wall. Ahead the hall split two ways- one left and the other right. "This way," Nabeshin directed, and he followed the ghost down a series of halls. They raged- Naruto put a hand to his chest- his heart was pounding in a funny way.

WEMUSTKILLHIM.

"Not now," Naruto gasped, vision blurring- heart beating in a strange way. He felt faint- the complete opposite of how he had felt ten minutes before. "They will stop me- they will stop us. Not yet, please not yet," he pleaded.

"Who are you?" he looked up to see three anbu standing around a door, faces covered in similar looking masks. Naruto hunched his shoulders and blinked at them.

"I think this is the part where you introduce yourself as Sasuke's Teammate," Nabeshin sighed. "Tell them Kakashi sent you."

Naruto hesitantly repeated this, looking at them from behind his bangs as they seemed to motionlessly scrutinize him. Then one looked at the other, they seemed to come to a silent agreement, and one held out his hand.

"Give me the katana. No weapons allowed inside." Naruto handed the katana over quickly, and one opened the door. "Don't disturb the patient." One said in a rather ominous voice, and Naruto hurried inside, squinting at the brightness of the room, and blanching at the sight of the large windows to his left.

Sasuke lay in a bed in the middle of the room, eyes covered by a white cloth, mouth and nose engulfed by an oxygen mask. Naruto moved to the other side of the bed and sat down on the floor next to the oxygen machine, back leaning against the bed, and buried his head in his hands, hoping to ride out the rage and anger that made his head and heart feel funny.

"I'm going to watch the rest of the fights," Nabeshin said unnecessarily, and he cracked open an eye. He knew that the ghost would be going for the clone he had left behind. He wasn't stupid.

He was not sure how much time had passed since his arriving there, how long he had been pleading with Them to wait for the demise of the red-head, but he suddenly became aware that he and Sasuke were not alone in the room any longer. "There is such a thing as being too outstanding," a voice said conversationally. "And we both stood out too much." He lifted his head from his hands and turned, looking up into the surprised face of a rather familiar person. For a second, he could not place who he was and as he was trying to put a name to the teenager with the glasses, noticed that there was a scalpel in his hand that was angled toward Sasuke's exposed neck.

"You are just full of surprises, aren't you," the intruder commented, mouth turning up into a smirk. Naruto's eyes drifted to the three dead anbu in the doorway. "Stay out of my way if you want to live kid," the grey-haired teenager said just as the scalpel disappeared from his hand. Naruto saw Kakashi-sensei standing near the fallen anbu, the knife in his hand. The teenager did not seem to be surprised. Naruto's hands shot out on their own and grabbed Sasuke's shoulders, dragging the boy across the bed and pulling him down on top of him. Quickly rolling Sasuke off of him, he then crawled under the bed and dragged the Uchiha under there with him. The oxygen mask was yanked from his face and to his surprise he heard a wheeze come from his chest.

"Who the hell are you?" he heard Kakashi-sensei ask coldly as he reached out over Sasuke's body and pulled at the mask, trying to get the machine to move closer so that it could reach him properly. While he struggled with this the conversation progressed. Yakushi Kabuto- that was his name. He had forfeit just as the prelim's had started.

He yanked harder on the cord, and finally the square oxygen machine moved on loud squeaky wheels- halting the conversation. Naruto paused, half expecting the bed to go flying, hearing quick movement, then the sound of shattering glass as he quickly placed the oxygen mask over Sasuke's nose and mouth- his lips were kind of looking blue.

The room was silent again. Naruto turned his head, looking through the other side of the bed, seeing nothing different...except one of the dead anbu had been moved, and one of the windows were broken. He watched a pair of feet turn from facing the window and walk over to the bed. The person kneeled down.

"You've gotten real good with the Kage Bunshin, Naruto." Kakashi-sensei's eye was shut in a cheerful way. "I could have sworn you were out there watching the last three fights." Naruto said nothing, staring back at the man from under the bed. The jounin sighed. "Well, let's get Sasuke out from under there."

Naruto didn't particularly want to come out from under the bed, but he knew that Sasuke couldn't very well stay under there, and so he crawled out. Kakashi-sensei moved around the side of the bed where the oxygen machine was and pulled Sasuke from under there, placing him carefully on the bed.

Naruto turned and looked at the anbu, eyes darting around, searching for Nabeshin's katana. He stepped toward the door, stepping carefully around large splatters of blood as he peeked out the open door, spying the katana half stuck in the hallway wall. He moved over to it quickly and tried to pull it out of the wall, an unsuccessful ordeal- it was too deep. He paused as he saw several ninja approach quickly, battle in their eyes. He quickly released the hilt and lowered his head as they passed, one pausing to look at him before moving on into the room. He grabbed the hilt, putting his foot against the wall and pulled with all his strength. The katana came free quite suddenly, and he staggered back, falling on his behind. Nabeshin came around the corner, disguised as the brown-haired boy, his mouth turned down. Naruto got to his feet.

"More bad news Naruto," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You'll be fighting Hyuga Neji in the Finals."

Naruto almost choked on his own rage- but combined with Theirs, it was almost debilitating. "No! He's mine! He's MINE!" He saw Nabeshin shy away but didn't care. He swung the blade at the wall he had just pulled it from, hacking away at it, channeling his rage into every swing. He wasn't used to being so angry- he wasn't used to such emotion. Anger belonged to Them, not to him. But he wanted this to be over- he could not be plagued by this wanting for the rest of his life- he was already miserable as it was.

Someone yanked the katana from his hands, and he turned on them, ready to attack, but froze when he saw it was the scarred man. The rage left him cold and hollow as he stared up into those black eye.

"You gonna be okay?"

Naruto turned and fled from the hall.

XXXXXXxxXXXXX

Nabeshin watched Naruto disappear around the corner before he looked back at the Morino Ibiki, who loomed in the hallway, looking curious as he held Nabeshin's katana. He wanted to follow Naruto, but was reluctant to leave without his blade- but how was he to get it without being asked questions?

"Ibiki-san," someone called from the room and the Interrogation Squad Leader turned away, tossing the katana carelessly to him. Nabeshin caught the blade- wow, that had been easy, and quickly made an exit before someone else deigned to ask who he was.

He returned to where most of the genin were heading out- they all had a month to train and prepare for the Finals. He paused as he saw Gaara's eyes dart around as he obviously searched for Naruto. Nabeshin grimaced. He didn't know why the Sand jinchuuriki looked so normal while Naruto looked so frightening, but he wished whatever was going on between them would stop. Naruto looked most terrifying whenever he was looking at Gaara.

"Hey! You!" Nabeshin turned as Sakura approached him, her face determined. "Who are you?" she demanded to know.

Nabeshin smiled. "I'm Naruto's cousin, Uzumaki Nabeshin. How's it going?"

The girl looked completely at a loss. "N-Naruto has a cousin?"

"Yeah, I know right? He's so antisocial. Anyway, I'm in town and figured I'd help him out since he's got issues," he gave her a charming smile.

A funny look came over her. "You said your name is Nabeshin? Were...were you helping us in the Forest of Death?"

Nabeshin shook his head. "Nope, can't possibly know what you're talking about. Well I gotta go. See you later!" He waved and quickly rushed off before she could ask anymore questions, chuckling to himself.

Uzumaki Nabeshin. What a laugh.

XXXXXxxXXXX

Deep in the thick foliage of the Forest of Death, a small figure slipped silently from behind the trunk of a rather large tree, seeming almost a part of the thick shadows. It moved confidently through the darkness, stepping around the rotting flesh of the giant snake as it searched patiently through the mess. Tucked under one arm was a katana, well used and still wet with blood that gleamed in a patch of moonlight as it paused, crouching down and pushing aside a rather large chunk of rotting meat, revealing another katana. It wiped the second blade against its pants leg and strapped it to the back of its black sweater.

There was a snap of a twig and the small figure froze, turning slowly toward the source of the noise, blue eyes and pale hair gleaming in the patch of moonlight. A smile graced its hollow face.