Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Cold Blood Remix ❯ Blood/Fire ( Chapter 1 )

Cold Blood Remix

Chapter 1:Blood/Fire

Disclaimer:Naruto and all related characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto, and are used here without permission. I'll give them back eventually, but some of them might be in bad condition.

The flat screen flickered through the names of all the applicants, taunting each one mercilessly. It was the third stage of the chuunin exam, and the fates of the remaining twenty applicants (now that Kabuto had dropped out) were in the hands of sheer chance. They were to be paired up and fight until one couldn't go any more, with only the winners advancing. Most of them were bruised or fatigued to some degree from the preceding trial. Some looked on the oncoming fight with fear, some with anticipation, and some with mere boredom.

The twenty remaining applicants, their teachers, the examiners, and the Hokage watched the screen as it displayed the first pairing.

HARUNO SAKURA

vs.

UCHIHA SASUKE

Sakura gasped, and turned ghostly white. Sasuke frowned, but had no obvious emotional reaction. Naruto, on the other hand, panicked. "What? Sasuke and Sakura? They're gonna fight? But they're on the same team!"

"Not anymore, Naruto," Kakashi said gently. "From this point on, you're competing as individuals. If you care too much about your friends, you'll only get burned."

"But aren't we supposed to be loyal to our allies?" Sakura managed to squeak out.

Kakashi paused. "Yes, but when ally becomes enemy, a true shinobi will not hesitate. Remember that." Still, he reflected, this match-up is unfortunate. Sasuke shouldn't be fighting this soon, with that curse seal. And the only way Sakura will stand a chance is if she puts her feelings for Sasuke aside-- which doesn't fill me with confidence.

"The first battle will now commence. If everyone would make their way to the upper level..."

As the other genin left the makeshift arena for the balcony, Kankuro turned to Temari. "So... I suppose you can get paired up against someone from your own team..." He was sweating bullets, and it wasn't just from the usual heat caused by his restrictive costume.

Temari smirked. "Don't worry, Kankuro. Your odds of facing Gaara here are pretty slim." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course, you're going to be matched up against him eventually... if you don't lose first..."

Of all the observers, only one was uninterested in the action. Hyuga Neji didn't need to watch the match. From the little he had seen, he could already tell that Sasuke was destined for greatness and Sakura was not.

Sakura stood petrified, across the floor from Sasuke. There was no way she could be paired up against him. For one thing, she could hardly stand seeing Sasuke get hurt during missions, so there was no way she could inflict the injuries herself. That was if he wasn't already completely out of her league to begin with, combat-wise. And a fight like this, with the opponent as an obstacle in your way to success, was doomed to reverse any progress she had made with their relationship.

Sakura would soon find she had bigger things to worry about.

Hayate raised his hand, looking at the combatants disinterestedly. "Ready? Fight!"

"Hey Sakura! Wipe the floor with that loser!" Naruto cheered her on, though she knew it was half meant as a jesting insult to Sasuke.

"Don't scratch up his face up too much, forehead!" called Ino. It took Sakura a moment to realize that Ino was cheering for her.

Sakura looked across at Sasuke, who was still in a ready stance. Tentatively, she reached for one of the kunai at her waist. "Come on, Sasuke-kun. This could just be like a light spar..."

He moved in a blue blur, faster than she could track. Sakura barely brought the kunai up to her chest to protect herself in time, and even it was knocked aside with one strike. Sasuke glanced up at her, and when she stared into his eyes, she saw no regret but only animal desire and perverse glee.

Sakura started screaming before he even touched her.

Sasuke stared across, looking at Sakura timidly thinking, as he felt the pain shoot through his body again. The pain from the curse seal was only getting worse, and a fight -- even one against Sakura -- was bound to inflame it. He shifted into a fighting stance, and felt another jolt of pain from just the slight realignment of chakra. Damnit...

A voice hissed in his head, cold and alien. Give in. Make the pain go away. Sasuke could feel the seal on his back, clawing at his power, longing to embrace his consciousness, and nearly forgot he was supposed to be fighting. It ceased for a moment.

He charged forward, intending only to scare Sakura off with a couple of gentle blows, but then the pain came back threefold, and he was running and concentrating and everything was happening and he didn't want to hurt Sakura and she was drawing a knife and too much and he gave in.

It felt sort of like he did after a short nap: fine, mentally, but raw around the edges, and prone to extreme anger if provoked. His thoughts were scattered, and the logical connections were severed. He grabbed his opponent by the wrist, and his opponent was Sakura, but there was no telling if he grabbed Sakura by the wrist. And when she screamed, it was an annoying noise, an odd one, and not one associated with pain or fear or sorrow.

The only sensation Sasuke felt was the raw surge of power as he attacked. He landed a punch on the girl's chin, and he felt it. He struck her stomach with a roundhouse kick, knocking her to the ground, and it felt good. It felt even better when he stomped on her ribs, and her cries of pain were just the musical accompaniment.

She used a bunshin to escape, fleeing from Sasuke. She held out her spare kunai knife, in an attempt to defend herself. Sasuke rushed her, feeling the power flow through his legs, and drew the kunai he had taken from her. They clashed in mid-air, a quick series of slashes and parries that the pink-haired girl seemed at first to be able to catch up with. But she was tiring, as she wasn't as naturally fast as Sasuke, and eventually she was disarmed for a second time.

Sasuke stabbed her right hand. The spilt blood was beautiful.

He brought the kunai knife up her arm, tearing through muscle and flesh as he did so. She screamed in pain, and her body spasmed in fascinating ways. Sasuke brought it up, cutting a thin red line across her skin, and coating both his arm and hers in the pink-haired girl's blood.

Sasuke raised his kunai, and decided to strike the other arm. He wondered if it would bleed more or less. He drove the knife down--

--and found his arm held back by Kakashi, glaring at him with nearly levelling force.

"Sakura is unable to continue. The match is over."

Good. It was over. Sasuke reflexively relaxed.

And then it all came rushing back to him: Sakura, the violence, the stunned silence of the spectators, the curse seal, his conscience, Naruto yelling and screaming, Kakashi's glare, and most of all the excruciating pain that lit his body on fire.

Sasuke screamed.

Before he knew it, he was on the floor, reeling from a fist to the jaw. Naruto, a murderous look on his face, stood over him. "You bastard... how could you do that to Sakura? I know she was your opponent, but you went totally over the top! It makes me so angry... she loves you, or at least she says she does... and you treat her like crap..." His voice had lowered to a growl, but it was somehow more threatening.

His words stung Sasuke hard, even harder than his ones in the Forest of Death. "I'm sorry..."

"That's all you have to say?" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi stepped in between the two, seeing Sasuke's face painted with shame and Naruto's with rage. He knew that was never a good combination. "Naruto, step back for a moment. Sasuke made a mistake and he knows it. You aren't aware of the entire situation."

"Step back? Aware of the entire situation?" Naruto snarled. "What situation? Oh, let me guess: Sasuke is the poor, tragic sole survivor of the Uchiha clan. He's spent his whole life wallowing in self-pity, while the village pampered him. Nothing he does is ever his fault, because of his childhood trauma or whatever. He's just fucking misunderstood. Is that it, Kakashi? Is that it?"

Sasuke stared at the floor, trying to hide tears in his eyes. Normally he would have responded with a snide rebuttal and keep his cool, but the events of the past couple days and the weight of what he had just done broke down his usual armour. The sight of medic-nin carrying an unconscious Sakura away on a stretcher didn't help matters. Naruto was off his mark, Kakashi thought, but he must have hit close to home anyway. Sasuke obviously didn't tell him about the curse seal. Still, there are problems with this team that I obviously haven't seen before.

"Naruto... we'll discuss this later," Kakashi said tactfully. "Sasuke... come with me." If the curse seal wasn't restricted soon, the situation could quickly become a disaster.

Sasuke just stared at the blood on his hands, and numbly followed Kakashi.

As Naruto fumed, he noticed that he was alone. No fun watching this sort of thing by yourself. I'll see if I can hang out with Shikamaru's team. They did save our asses in the Forest of Death after all.

"Hey guys," he said with a wave. Choji was the only one who greeted him with any sort of enthusiasm. Shikamaru was just too lazy, and Ino was lost in thought. The next match came up on the screen, though most were still reeling from the last one.

NARA SHIKAMARU

vs.

TSUCHI KIN

"Well, that's good timing," Shikamaru remarked honestly, before heading down to the lower floor.

"Go Shikamaru!" Choji cheered

Ino moved next to Naruto, leaning over the railing. "Naruto..." she said softly. "You're wrong. About Sasuke, I mean. There's something strange going on with him. He wouldn't hurt Sakura like that normally."

"Whatever," Naruto grunted. He really didn't want to get into this argument.

The two met in the middle of the ring, Shikamaru slouching and Kin fixing her hair. Naruto recognized her as the kunoichi of the Sound team, but other than that he didn't know much about her.

It hit Naruto. "Good timing... Hey! Well, you suck too Shikamaru!"

As Kin left to go fight, Dosu grabbed her by the shoulder and whispered, in that raspy voice of his, "Sink or swim time, Tsuchi." He had always complained that she was merely following and relying upon her team-mates, and that he looked forward to the day when she would have to fight on her own and sink or swim, to borrow a phrase. She, of course, would always shoot back that the only reason he was stronger than her was that he couldn't get a date (so he spent all his spare time training). The usual three-way insult-fest would begin. Their team was held together by anticipation of seeing the others fail.

As much as she outwardly shrugged it off, though, Kin always worried a bit that Dosu was right. She resolved to win this fight, to prove she wasn't dead weight. When she was paired up with one of the one-trick ponies she had fought in the forest, she gained a surge of confidence.

"Hey, kid," she said. "You want to give up now, or go through the trouble of getting your ass handed to you?"

"I have to fight a girl... how troublesome," remarked Shikamaru, slouching forward.

"Did you even hear me?" Kin snapped.

Hayate signalled for the match to begin. All you have to do is avoid his shadow, Kin reminded herself. With that, she reached for her weapon-- a series of needles with bells attached, on almost-invisible strings. The needles were sharp, the strings were strong enough to trap, and the bells were there to distract the opponent or make them over think things.

Before Shikamaru could step forward and try to use Kagemane, Kin tossed the first needle. It went past him harmlessly. Several more flew, each missing narrowly. It took her a while to realize that Shikamaru was dodging very subtly, only moving as much as he absolutely needed to. Still, she couldn't get a hit on him.

All the same, the all but invisible strings were now surrounding him. Two straight attacks pinned him to a very narrow column, the sound of bells ringing clear in the tower. Kin knew the strings wouldn't break, not in time for him to escape. Shikamaru still hadn't realized it. "So, let me guess, the standard bell-and-needle gambit?" he said, sounding bored. "I've dodged all of them, but you haven't started throwing the other ones yet."

"Not exactly," Kin smirked, jerking one of the strings tighter so he could feel it. She loved seeing the brief expression of an opponent who knew they were doomed. Shikamaru cursed, and both started making hand seals.

"Nawanuke no Jutsu. [Rope Escape Technique]" Shikamaru got his technique off first, and delicate strings of chakra freed him from the trap. Kin swore as he darted behind a pillar, and ran straight at her. He's not holding a weapon... wait, his shadow! At the last minute, she focused chakra in her foot, and used it to propel herself backwards, tossing a few needles out to cover her retreat.

Shikamaru ran forward, only to find himself caught in the ropes once again. Kin smirked, but didn't wait to gloat this time. "Katon:Hosenka no Jutsu! [Fire Style-Art of the Phoenix Flower, the Touch-me-Not]"

Fire sped down the strings, as Shino watched closely. "Kurenai-sensei, that's a Katon jutsu. Those aren't common outside Konoha, especially not among genin."

"Oto is a new village, primarily made up of mercenaries and missing-nin," she explained. "It's very possible that she could have picked it up from one of our defectors, or even be one of them ourselves."

Kin smirked, satisfied as the fire reached its target, and Shikamaru went up in smoke. Ninja smoke. "Kagemane no Jutsu. [The Art of Me-and-My-Shadow]" She felt her body stiffen and conform to Shikamaru's, who was standing across from her, letting the flame project his shadow far enough to trap her in his signature jutsu. "Like I would go after you like that. Too troublesome, so I just sent a bunshin to see how you would respond."

"You wouldn't know it from looking at him, but Shikamaru's actually quite clever," said Choji to Naruto, actually understating the case.

"You still have to defeat me," she taunted, not letting her voice show her fear.

Shikamaru raised his arm.

Kin's arm caught onto the fire she had made, which spread up her sleeve quickly. "Ack! Put it out! I surrender!" Still Shikamaru's puppet, he had her beat her sleeve to smother the flames, but all it ended up doing was spreading them to the other side of her body. She let out a shriek, and a couple of gasps went up from the small audience.

"Shikamaru, you dolt! You don't do that to a girl!" Ino yelled.

"I don't think he intended for it to go that far..." Asuma muttered, not really caring if Ino listened to him or not.

Hayate stepped in, and started making the motions for a Suiton jutsu, but he found his path blocked by the three sound-nin's sensei. The androgynous man held up his hand calmly. "Give her a minute or so." Hayate made a motion to argue, but a cold stare levelled any objections. Kin screamed obscenities as the fire engulfed her clothes and her entire body.

"Why aren't they putting it out?" Naruto continued to ask, as Kin screamed.

"Because her sensei is showing her how weak she really is," remarked Neji knowingly. "How can you be a soldier if you need to be saved?" Naruto stared at him, not really sure of the explanation.

Orochimaru watched the flames with a pyromaniacal glee. Without her beauty to distract her, Kin will be more focused on improving herself as a shinobi. And perhaps this open wound of loss will form into the throbbing scab of revenge. Yes, if anything can make Kin into a useful ninja, it is this. And if she winds up hating me, she will join half of the shinobi in Otogakure in doing so.

Besides, her screams are simply delightful.

Eventually, Orochimaru tired of this, and drew a scroll. His hands blurred through signs. "Fuka Hoin. [Fire Sealing Method]" A vapour extended from the scroll, and enveloped the fire, eventually consuming it and sealing it away. With it, Kin's wounded form was plainly visible. Her clothes were long incinerated, and dark burns nearly covered her body. Only a few strands of hair remained, drooped sporadically across her shoulders and trapped inside burns. Her right arm, where the fire had began, was now an amorphous black mass. Her face was a twisted facsimile of its former self: stretches and bumps forming an intricate and disgusting map of burns and scars. A thin layer of tears streamed down what was left of Kin's face.

"Holy..." Shikamaru said, going pale. "I... didn't mean for... just wanted her to... it was..."

The older sound ninja, took Kin by the hand, to the second dead silence of this stage, and led her to the medic-nin. Whispering something to her with his snakelike tongue, he placed her on a stretcher, where she promptly fainted away into blissful unconsciousness.

The remaining shinobi were almost equally split between the disgusted and the unaffected. "Looks like she sunk," said Dosu.

"That's what she gets, I suppose," said Temari uncertainly. She stared at her younger brother, who looked hungry after seeing so much blood in just the first two matches. She hoped his fight would come up soon, or else he might not be able to keep his bloodlust in check.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said, for what had to be the thirtieth time. Kakashi sighed. They were in a side room, with Kakashi crouching down to create the Fuja Hoin [Evil Sealing Method] on Sasuke's bare back, with the symbols spreading out onto the floor to form a circle around the boy.. The curse seal was spreading like a rash, but with luck Kakashi's seal would contain it.

"The one you should apologize to is Sakura," said Kakashi. "You lost control, and I understand that... but at the same time, it's your responsibility. Your willpower wasn't strong enough, and you were too arrogant to withdraw from the tournament."

"I know, I know," Sasuke said, his voice pained. "Maybe Naruto was right..."

Kakashi sighed. He knew that Naruto had reacted a little rashly, and was maybe spurred on a bit by jealousy, but he had a point. "He doesn't know about the curse seal. Now, how about we deal with this for good?"

"Whatever it takes," said Sasuke darkly.

Kakashi made the incantation, and watched as the lines of symbols snaked up his body and restricted the curse seal, reverting it to a mere three dots surrounded by a sharp black barrier. "...is it gone?" asked Sasuke, sounding tired.

"Well, the next time that curse tries to become active, the seal should stop it," Kakashi explained. "However, its power is based, to a large extent, on its bearer's will. If you lose belief in yourself, or give into lust for power, the seal will fail and the curse will run wild again."

"I won't," Sasuke vowed.

From the shadows, Orochimaru watched. He wouldn't step into this picturesque moment, though he knew he could defeat Kakashi easily. After all, Sasuke was still conscious. I don't want to risk doing anything that would push him away... well, other than what's necessary. Still, this is more intriguing than I thought... I've never seen someone react to a curse seal in that way before. He went completely berserk.

Orochimaru ran his serpentine tongue over his lips. Kakashi is being so foolish. Of course Sasuke will break that seal, with his own will. After all, what he really wants is power, the power that will make him able to kill Itachi. And I'm the one who can give him that power. Eventually, he'll come begging to me, and I'll get a cute new pawn.

Sasuke will be mine, and nothing can stop that.

Author's Notes:

Why can't I stop creating new epic-length fics? Is it an addiction, or just bad judgement? Considering that I've recently abandoned two of them, and the idea of finishing one of these at my current pace is laughable, shouldn't I just nip the disappointment of myself and my hypothetical readers in the bud?

And yet, I write, and I post, and maybe people look at it. If you've come this far, I thank you. In case you missed it, the premise of this AU is that the match-ups in the tournament stage of the Chuunin exams were different, and the new ones cause everything to go off in a significantly different directions. Aside from a couple new ideas, and maybe more significant parts later, this will be the only adjustment to the plot, though some things that stay more or less the same will probably be skimped on.

This is also, as you can see, going to be quite dark. I don't know what exactly draws me to Naruto darkfic. Maybe it's just latent teenage angst?

This chapter ended up focusing on the plotline of Sasuke and Orochimaru. Before you ask, this isn't one of those fanfics where Sasuke is bashed at every corner, and turned into a completely unlikeable bastard (who usually gets his ass kicked by a super-powered Naruto). For the most part, I try to treat all of the characters fairly, as blatant favouritism is one of my pet peeves in writing. The Sakura thing was extreme, yes, but it was necessary for the plot and was caused mostly by the curse seal. More explanation later in the fic. As for Orochimaru... what can I say, he's evil.

Shikamaru vs. Kin is the only match that stayed the same, and that's only in terms of who was fighting-- I changed the actual fight just to make things interesting.

This is probably a bit hard for a T/PG-13 rating, but you lose a lot of readers with an M/R because they get filtered out from the front page and probably 80% of readers don't bother to change the setting to all ratings. If it offends you, let me know.

And that's about all I have to blab on about. Reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated.