Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Irony of it All ❯ What's up with Sasuke? ( Chapter 25 )

 

Rayne watched her teammate stubbornly keep her hold.

“But Sakura...maybe you aren't so…” She glanced to the den where Naruto and Sasuke still lay. For a second she thought she could see something emit from Sasuke's body but she ignored it. Instead she closed her eyes. She waited a moment or two before opening her eyes and looking over her shoulder at Dosu, her eyes black, flashing with red.

Dosu's visible eye widened and he let go of her arm out of surprise. "What the hell!?"

Rayne opened her mouth to speak, "You want pain?"

Dosu took a step back, wondering what was going on. Rayne smirk and made one hand sign: Tori

~~~~~

Shikamaru watched Sakura from the corner of his eye while his other focus was on Rayne. His eyes narrowed. "Ino, if you're going to something now would be the time...." Ino's eyes widened as she watched Sakura.

~~~~

"That's it! I'm finishing this!" Zaku yelled, having gotten Sakura off and running at her. Rayne turned her head from Dosu after lowering her hands but it was too late, Zaku was too close to Sakura. Sakura gasped and closed her eyes.

"I-Ino?" Sakura asked.Ino stood in front of the kneeling Sakura. Shikamaru stood beside her, a hand on Chouji's scarf, having to have dragged him with.

"Wh-why are you-"

"I'm not going to let you steal the good part in front of Sasuke," Ino spoke, not looking behind her at the pink kunoichi. Rayne looked to Shikamaru. His eyes were on her and she averted her eyes to the ground for they were still the Sharingan. She heard a slight movement behind her and she turned around to see Dosu moving his sleeve up his arm.

"I don't think so," Rayne said with a growl and redid her hand sign and calling her raven.

"Man, they just keep swarming in like cockroaches," Zaku said with a smirk.

"What were the two of you thinking!? This is too dangerous!" Chouji shouted at Ino and Shikamaru.

"It's troublesome but we have to do this," Shikamaru said. "Ino revealed herself, us men can't just run away."

Ino smirked. "Sorry to drag you into this guys but, we work as a team."

Shikamaru smirked. "Whatever happens, happens."

"No! I don't want to die yet!" Chouji exclaimed, eyes full of fear and trying to run away. Shikamaru glared as he held Chouji back by his scarf. "Shut up and stop moving!" Zaku smirked. "You can run if you want, fatty." Chouji immediatly went still. Even Rayne stiffened from her fight with Dosu when she heard this.

"What...did he just say?" She asked slowly

Shikamaru's eyes widened. “That word is taboo to Chouji...

Zaku narrowed his eyes. "I said, run away, fatass."

Chouji turned around, yelling at Zaku with his full anger. "I'M NOT FAT! I'M BIGBONED!!!"

Chouji let out a battle cry and his chakra began to swirl around him. "Horray for the big-boned people!!!!"

“Good, they've gotten Chouji angery...” Rayne thought, trying to keep focused on her own fight while watching the others.

"Give it up," Dosu spoke, dodging a swift kick. Rayne growl and sent a flurry of attacks; only a few punches actually making contact. Her main objective was making sure that Dosu didn't get the chance to activate the contraption on his arm.

“Why are you so fierce sama? Is it a desire to protect that boy?" Dosu asked. "Could Orochimaru-sama had been right?"

"Orochimaru-yarou? That bastard, right about what? Tell me!" In the meantime, Chouji turned to Ino and Shikamaru, fire in his eyes. "Okay! You two understand this is a fight between sound and Konoha, right!?"

Ino smirked. “Good, he's riled up...”

"Man, this is troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered, glancing at Rayne then back to Chouji. Rayne blocked a punch, then another, sending a kick that was blocked by Dosu.

Dosu smirked lightly underneath the bandages on his face. "You are strong. You will be a good asset."

"Asset?" Rayne echoed. Dosu smirked and his foot made contact with her jaw. She let out a soft cry of pain and flew into the tree not far behind her. Rayne slid to the ground, landing hard. Shakily, she made to stand up and Dosu walked over. His shadow loomed over ger and she stared at him, blood starting to trickle from underneath her long bangs.

"Sakura," Ino said, still not looking behind her. "Take care of those two." Sakura looked over her shoulder to the two boys Ino referred to. Sakura's eye that was not bruised, widened as purple chakra steamed off of Sasuke's body.

"Sa-Sasuke..?"

"Okay, time for a little Ino team power," Ino said, smirking as she faced Zaku.

"Yeah!" Chouji chimed.

"Formation; Ino!"

"Shika!"

"Cho!"

"Do your thing, Chouji!" Ino instructed. Chouji stamped his foot on the hard, dirt ground and nodded. He brought his hands in front of him, forming a tepee with his fingers. "Multi-Size no Jutsu!"

Chouji's body inflated, much like a balloon does when air is blown into it. "Now, Leaf style taijutsu!"

Chouji pulled in his arms, legs and head so that only his large, round body was showing. "Meat Tank!"

Chouji's body began to spin rapidly and he jumped up. Chouji's spinning tore up dirt and grass as he hit the ground and began whizzing towards Zaku. Zaku smirked. "This is your jutsu? It's just a rolling fatass!"

Zaku brought his arms up, showing his palms. "Zankuuha!" (Air-ripping Blast)

The air rushed out of the holes on Zaku's palm and blasted against Chouji's spinning body. There was a moment of struggle as Chouji's body pushed against the strong air force but finally Chouji jumped up, out of the way of the blast. Blood squirted from Rayne's mouth as Dosu stomped on her stomach again before looking to the right of both of them. His eyes widened as he watched Zaku helplessly watching at the spinning Chouji about to drop down atop Zaku. Quickly, Dosu took off running towards Zaku, pulling up the sleeve of his right arm. Her head turned to watch them but her arms lay out useless. Rayne's black eyes flickered a moment before they turned onyx again, her eyelids dropping over her arms and blood running down her chin and face.

"Ninpo!" (Shadow Copy no Jutsu) Dosu haulted in his path. Shikamaru stood across from Dosu several feet, a handsign in front of him and his shadow stretched, engulfing Dosu's shadow. Shikamaru smirked. Zaku jumped out of the way just as Chouji came crashing into the earth. Zaku looked behind him as Chouji's still spinning body drilled a large hole into the ground. Shikamaru toyed with Dosu, doing funny poses that the Shadow Bind made Dosu copy. "Okay Ino, now it's your turn."

Ino nodded and smirked. "Okay, take care of my body Shikamaru."

Ino preformed a handsign. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!" (Mind/Body Switch) It was a second or two and Ino's body went limp, falling to the right where Shikamaru caught her body. Dosu was forced to do the same pose, just with no one in his arms.

"Kin!" Zaku called as he jumped away from Chouji again. Kin stood behind Dosu, her head lowered and body at attention. It was a second or two until Kin looked up, a smile on her lips and a kunai to her neck. "It ends now."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"If you guys move an inch, I'll kill this Kin girl," Kin spoke. "If you don't want it to end here, drop your scrolls and get out of here." Zaku and Dosu's mouths curled into sickening grins. Inside Kin's body, Ino bit her lip. “What's so funny?”

Zaku brought up his palm and with a blast of air, Kin's body flew back, slamming into a tree. Back in Shikamaru's arms, Ino's real body, blood dripped from her mouth. "Ino!" Kin slowly tried to rose, blood coming from her mouth as well. She stared at Zaku, mouth slightly open. “These guys...hurting their own comrade...”

"What happens to her, happens to you, right?" Zaku confirmed. Shikamaru scowled.

"Our objective is not this exam, or scrolls," Zaku spoke.

"It's Sasuke," Dosu finished.

"S-Sasuke..." Sakura whispered, slowly trying to turn her neck to look at the boy. It was then there was shaky, light cracking sound and Shikamaru's stretched shadow began to retract to Shikamaru, its normal size. Shikamaru's eyes widened. “Dammit!”

"Oh, well it looks like your Shadow Bind jutsu has a limit of five minutes," Dosu said, moving freely again. "And the girl's jutsu..." Shikamaru looked down to Ino's limp body.

"She can enter the body of an opponent and control their mind. But if Kin dies, she dies also."

Shikamaru's eyes widned. "You'd kill your own teammate!?"

Zaku smirked and raised his palm to Kin's body, still on the ground. "If we need to."

Sweat ran down Shikamaru's face. “This is not good....”

"Oh no..." Chouji's body shook has he sat on the ground, arms holding him upright. Zaku chuckled and threw a kunai at Sakura, who was not paying attention to her surroundings.

“Sakura!” they all heard from Rayne. Sakura turned her head around to be pushed roughly to her side.

“What was that about?!” She cried before stopping herself to see that Rayne was laying down on the ground and was hit on her shoulder, the kunai sticking out with blood running down her arms. Rayne returned Sakura's glare with a weak one.

“For not getting out of the way and almost getting hit. It would've hit you in the heart pinkie!” Sakura sat, speechless for a moment before opening her mouth to reply.

"Okay, time to end this." Everyone's eyes widened and looked up. In a tree, overlooking the clearing stood Neji and Tenten.

"Some minor sound ninjas bullying some second rate ninjas and declaring victory?" Neji spoke.

"What!?" Dosu said aloud.

"That's Lee's team..." Sakura murmured.

Neji's and Tenten's vision looked to their fallen comrad. Tenten's eyes filled with worry. "Lee..."

"They do just keep coming," Dosu said, watching the newly arrived pair.

"That was our teammate..." Neji spoke sinisterly, activating his kekki genki. Suddenly, he stopped.

"Neji?" Tenten questioned.

"Come on tough guy, aren't you going to come down here and attack!?" Zaku sneered.

Neji smirked and closed his eyes. "No. It seems that it won't be necessary."

Dosu's eye narrowed a second before it widened. Everyone's eyes followed Dosu's gaze. There was Sasuke, slowly getting to his feet, a deep purple chakra swirling around his body. As he slowly stood, a red printing began to mark his body. As he seemed to be looking around the clearing, the print began to turn black. Squinting Rayne's eyes shut, she slowly began to get to her knees. She coughed out blood a few times and slipped a few but soon she had managed to get to her knees, her hands on the ground and her shaky arms holding her up. She rested her blurred gaze on Sasuke and he seemed to rest his full attention on her. It was quiet a moment, the only sound being the quickly spinning noise of the purple chakra around Sasuke's body. Suddenly, Sasuke spoke. "Rayne.... Who did this to you?"

Rayne's eyes widened. "S-Sasuke...." She paused for a moment, before shouting at Sasuke, “What are you thinking worrying about me? You should be worried for Sakura and yourself instead!” Sakura stared at Rayne for a moment, along with the other genin teams. Dosu's eyes widened seeing Sasuke's body. “The curse seal is wrapped around his whole body?”

"Sasuke...your body...." Sakura spoke, staring up at Sasuke from her spot on the ground. Sasuke brought up his left arm, gazing at the black markings that covered it and the rest of his body. He put his arm down after a second and gazed forward. "It's okay. I feel power surging through my body.... He gave this to me." Rayne felt a jolt from her back and squeak, trying to hold her shout in. Sasuke's head snapped back to her. "Answer me Rayne, who was the one that hurt you?" Rayne tried not to flinch at the harshness in Sasuke's voice. She felt warm blood slowly trickle down her cheek, giving her the urge to reach up and relieve the itch, but she didn't. Zaku suddenly took a step towards Sasuke, a smirk on his face, wanting to accept credit for the pain he had caused. "That would be me."

Sasuke's head turned to Zaku, his eyes shining crimson with the Sharingan. Zaku smirked.

"Ino! Hurry, return to your body!" Shikamaru yelled to Kin's body.

Kin turned her attention to Shikamaru. "Right! Release!" Ino preformed a handsign and Kin's body fell to the ground and Ino's blue eyes began to open.

Shikamaru smirked. "Welcome back." Sasuke glared at Zaku, a bloodlust in his eyes that Sakura or Rayne had never seen come from Sasuke.

“His chakra is too strong!” Dosu realized as the chakra around Sasuke seemed to swirl faster around him.

"Dosu! No need to be afraid of this half dead freak!" Zaku yelled, clapping his hands together.

"Zaku, no!" Dosu warned.

Zaku ignored Dosu and held his palms out to Sasuke. "Ultimate Zankuuha!!!" A fierce wind erupted from the holes in Dosu's palm. The wind cut at the barks of trees and left a huge ditch in the ground.

"Was he blown to peices?" Zaku asked himself as the clouds of dust cleared down.

"Was who?" Zaku's eyes widened as Sasuke now stood behind him. Sasuke stretched his arm, hitting Zaku in the back of the head and sending him flying. As Zaku let out a slight moan and got to his knees, Sasuke began performing handsigns. "Fire element, Mythical Fire Flower!" Rayne's eyes reflected orange as dozens of fireballs flew from Sasuke's body towards Zaku.

"So what, I'll blast them away!" Zaku held up his palms and sent a blast of slicing air towards the fireballs. The air blew away the fire to reveal shuriken whizzing at Zaku. Zaku held his arms in front of his face as the shuriken tore at his body.

Dosu's eyes widened. "Dosu! Below!" Zaku didn't have enough time to look as Sasuke appeared at Zaku's legs. Sasuke stood behind Zaku, grabbing both Zaku's arms and held them behind Zaku's back as Sasuke's right foot rested on Zaku's back, pushing Zaku towards the earth.

A sickening grin appeared on Sasuke's face. "You seem very proud of your arms. Very, attached to them."

"No!" Sakura cried and Rayne bit her lip as Sasuke began to pull at Zaku's arms as he pushed Zaku the opposite way. With a sickening crack, Rayne closed her eyes as Sakura's tears flew from her eyes while turning away. Rayne couldn't watched as Zaku's broken arms fell to his side and he screamed but forced herself to, telling herself that this is a ninja way. Sasuke watched Zaku for a moment before turning and watching Dosu. "Your turn."

Dosu's eyes widened as Sasuke spoke in his merciless voice. "I hope you let me have some fun."

Sakura watched Sasuke now, tears starting to flow from her eyes. "No Sasuke!"

Sasuke ignored her and started to walk towards Dosu. Tears rolled down Sakura's face, while Rayne glared at Sasuke, while trying to put the pieces together. “This isn't Sasuke…”

 

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"Hey hey Rayne, what happened?" Naruto asked.

Rayne sweatdropped. "I was kinda hoping you'd tell me."

"Well, you were climbing and then you just...fell. Well first you fell, hit the side of the tree, then fell again," Naruto explained.

Rayne felt her side. "I'm gunna have the bruise to show it," she said bitterly.

"But you didn't hit the ground though. Sasuke threw a few kunai and pinned you to a tree. Then he got you down and we brought you back here," Naruto went on.

Rayne raised an eyebrow and blinked then looked at Sasuke, who seemed extremely interested in the floorboards.

She smiled slightly, "Well thank you Sasuke."

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Te ars started to sting Rayne's eyes as she pushed any remaining strength into her legs. “Even Sasuke isn't this capable of being cold hearted...”

 

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"After Tsunami told us to leave, we went back into the woods and something funny happened!" Rayne looked at Naruto with an eyebrow raised.

"Well to put it bluntly, Sasuke asked for help!" Naruto cracked up laughing. Rayne blinked, then started laughing with Naruto.

"D-Dont make me laugh!! Y-You're hurting my c-chest!" Sasuke glared. Sakura looked from Rayne to Naruto with a frown.

 

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“Sasuke....” Rayne stood up.

Sasuke smiled. "I....hated you..."

"Then why!?! Why save me!? I had it!! I was fine!" Rayne yelled trying to keep her voice from cracking.

 

Sasuke neared Dosu and Dosu shook with fear. Tears falling from Rayne's face, she used all her will to start running.

 

"Sasuke...I...I hated you too but...I...I realized..."

 

"Sasuke!"

~~~~~



Sasuke haulted, looking over his shoulder. There Rayne stood, body against his back, her scratched and bruised arms wrapped around his ribs. She looked up into his face, trying to stop the tears streaming down her face.

"Sasuke.... stop this....please...." Rayne closed her eyes, turning her head from Sasuke's face. Not because she couldn't look at him, she could not stand the pain. Touching him was setting off her clan symbol and her raven jutsu, big time. It hurts, however she bit her tongue to try not to scream. As Sasuke continued to stare at her, the black markings turned an orangeish red and began to retract back to the curse mark on his neck. Dosu's eyes widened. “The curse mark is receding...” Sasuke's body suddenly grew limp. Looking back to him, Rayne held securely to her teammate, using all her strength to not fall. She tilt her head and said with difficulty,

“Sakura… a little help here?” Sakura blinked in surprised but immediately ran over to help Rayne. They slowly kneeled to the ground, helping Sasuke sit up. Rayne fell to the ground on her back sitting next to Sasuke. She looked at the small sky from the clearing between the trees. Sakura stayed behind Sasuke, rubbing his back and trying not to glomp him. Sasuke breathed heavily.

"You are strong." Rayne, propped on her elbows, along with everyone else, looked towards Dosu. Dosu held out an earth scroll. "Sasuke, we cannot beat you this time." The sound ninja placed the scroll on the ground and as Rayne and Sasuke stared at it, Dosu picked up Zaku and Kin, slinging them over his shoulder. Dosu then turned to Rayne. "As for you Rayne-sama, fate has not changed." Rayne frown and bit her lip slightly as the sound ninja turned around and began walking away. She fell back onto the ground and felt Sasuke's gaze turn to her and Rayne continued to look at the sky.

"Ino, go take care of Lee," Shikamaru's voice suddenly came. Sasuke and Sakura looked over their shoulder as team ten started to move. Ino ran over to the fallen Lee and Chouji went to Naruto. Shikamaru headed over towards Rayne. Sasuke watched Shikamaru carefully as he walked over and kneeled by her. "Rayne...are you alright?"

"Eh, I'm okay. Just bruised, scratch; beat up badly, bleeding and very tired. But other than that I'm fine.” Rayne replied with a yawn. “You know Shika, I think I know why you like to watch the clouds so much, it's… very peaceful…” Shikamaru looked ready to question her further but noticing the looks he was receiving from Sasuke, backed off. Instead, Shikamaru sent Rayne a look saying she would have some serious explaining to do when this exam was over.

"Watch out Sakura! I'll save you!" Naruto spoke, a grin set upon his face. Chouji stared down at the blonde as Shikamaru stepped up beside him.

"What do you suppose we do with him?" Chouji asked aloud as he and Shikamaru hovered over the boy.

"Kick him awake?" Shikamaru suggested.

"Can I do it?" Chouji eagerly asked. Still next to Rayne, Sasuke stared down at his left arm, eyes quivering. “What happened to me? ”

Sakura watched Rayne laying down, seemly sleeping, and Sasuke from a short distance away. “Sasuke....”

"Hey Sakura!" Sakura turned her head to the blonde that had called her name. Neji and Tenten had taken Lee from Ino and had left and Ino waved Sakura over. "Come here, I'll fix your hair for you!" Sakura smiled and stood up. As Ino ran a kunai through Sakura's damaged hair, she fumed slightly. "Who does that Rayne think she is, hugging Sasuke like that!"

"Yeah.." Sakura responded but her voice sounded dazed and her eyes seemed deep in thought.

"Hey, are you okay?" Rayne softly asked Sasuke, getting up before placing a hand on her stomach. Sasuke slowly turned his head to hers. As he did so, his eyes met hers and they seemed locked. For a split second, Rayne could read all of Sasuke's emotions. Hate, lonliness, sadness, anger, confusion and....and....

And then it was over. Rayne blinked as Sasuke looked at her a moment more before turning away. Rayne watched Sasuke a moment before she looked to his neck and staring at the mark set upon his skin. Her eyes narrowed.

“Orochimaru....”