"Gah!" Sasuke desperate grunts echoed around the room, he was stapled down to the floor, trying to get out of Yoroi's grasp. "M-My chakra! You're stealing it from me!" Sasuke said through exasperated grunts, "Ha, you finally caught on." Yoroi breathed out, keeping his arm steady. Sasukes arms fell limp to his sides, I held onto the railing tightly, Naruto was by my side, Kakashi at my other. "Hello?" Kakashi called out, I didn't seem to hear him. They're too preoccupied with the battle, guess I'll have to ask them afterwards. Kakashi sighed, turning his head back to the arena.
That's right, Sasuke. He's draining your chakra, Yoroi has an extraordinary ninja art at his finger tips. He can absorb an opponents spiritual and physical energy at the palm of his hand. And once the last drop of your chakra has been drained from you, Sasuke, you'll have no other choice but to rely on the power of the curse mark. Orochimaru touched his chin, his grin widening.

 

"GAH!" Sasuke screamed, his arms shaking as he tried to move them, his muscles straining from a simple jolt. Go on, release that delicious forbidden power, set it free! It's the only chance you'll have of saving yourself. Orochimaru watched intently. Should I step in or...eh. Hayate shrugged, he loosened his grip on his clip board.

"Get off of me!" Sasuke shouted, using the small strength he had left, he flew his foot into Yoroi's chest. Yoroi quickly jumped back, watching as Sasuke slowly raised his head off the ground. "So, you still have some strength left, huh?" Yoroi clenched his fists. Sasuke was gasping for air, that was close, he thought leaning on his arm. "Don't worry, little man. I'll make it short and sweet!" Yoroi showed his palm, dashing back towards Sasuke. Sasuke climbed back up to his feet, his body still shaking violently.

Yoroi shoved his palm towards Sasuke, he quickly moved out of the way, catching his footing as he dodged Yoroi's palm. The side of Yoroi's hand grazed a piece of Sasuke's hair, Sasuke stumbled out of the way, his legs shaking. "What's the matter? Is that really the best you could do?" Yoroi called out with a grin, Sasuke gritted his teeth, twisting his body around with a kick, Yoroi jumped back with ease, facing Sasuke once again.

I don't have the speed to keep away from him. I don't have a chance in a close quarter fight. I need to think of something fast. Sasuke clenched his fists.

The great Sasuke Uchiha. Is that all he's got? Gaara thought, looking down into the arena with a blank face. Come on, Sasuke! Naruto gritted his teeth, Lee turned over to us, breaking away from Tenten and Neji. "Gnnnn! Come on, Sasuke! What was that?! And you call yourself an Uchiha?!" Naruto shouted out, leaning over the railing. "Yeah! Come on! We know you can do better than this! I believe in you, Sasuke!" I yelled out, Sasuke looked back at us.

(Y/N)...his gaze softened, looking back at us. Wait, that's it! Sasuke's eyes widened. "Uh..." Hayate scratched the top of his head, I probably should stop it...but...my throat kinda hurts and I don't really feel like talking more than I should. Hayate thought with a sigh.

Yoroi held his palm out in the front of his chest, dashing towards Sasuke as fast as he could run. "I'll teach you to turn your back on me!" Yoroi shouted, Sasuke turned his head back to Yoroi. "Big mistake, and your last!" Yoroi lunged towards Sasuke, pushing his palm out towards him, Sasuke quickly dodged his attacks again.

But...I guess this is as far as it goes. Hayate move his clip board up, taking a pencil that he accidently snapped in half out, he held it against the paper.

In a flash, Sasuke was out of the way, Yoroi's eyes widened. "Huh?! Where did he go?!" Yoroi shouted furiously, looking around wildly. "Huh?" Lee stepped a little closer towards me.

Sasuke sent a flying kick upwards, smashing his foot into Yoroi's chin. Yoroi's teeth chattered together as Sasuke sent him flying up into the air. Quickly, Sasuke jumped up to meet him. That is my move! Lee's eyes widened. What the...Guy tilted his head. My mouth was wide open.

Sasuke appeared behind Yoroi. "No one..." Sasuke whispered behind him, "Huh?!" Yoroi breathed out, "No one stops me from looking at my (Y/N)!" Sasuke breathed out, his eyes widening as he poked his fingers into Yoroi's back. "T-The dancing leaf shadow?!" Yoroi gaped, "Now-!" Sasuke's mouth opening wide, a spray of blood gasping out of his throat at the curse mark reacted. His body twitched as the curse grew, Sasuke's mouth wide open as a pattern burned it's way into his flesh, "No! Not again!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, it keeps getting stronger and stronger.

Naruto gasped as he watched the mark crawl up Sasuke's skin, Kakashi tilted his head up. Is this it? He wondered, watching him cautiously. The curse mark burned across half of his face, my eyes widened as I watched him, "No way-!" A twinge stung my own neck, I touched the side of it, me knee bending slightly.

No! I won't let this thing take over! No way! Sasuke clenched his fists, the curse mark receding back down to his neck, he forced it back down. Orochimaru lost his smile, squinting his eyes as he watched Sasuke. The curse mark is receding! Anko's eyes widened.

"Here we go." Sasuke whispered, "Huh?" Yoroi heard him, about to twist his hand around to see him. Sasuke sent a kick up to Yoroi, Yoroi blocked it with his arm, still flying through the air. "Ha! You're no match for me!" Yoroi called out, "Who's no match for who?" I smiled, holding onto the railing tightly.

Sasuke twisted around Yoroi, flinging his body to his other side. He threw his arm down into Yoroi's chest, Yoroi flew down, Sasuke pushed off of his chest. "I'm not done yet!" Sasuke shouted, kicking his leg high up in to the air, he slammed his heel down into Yoroi's chest. "Gah!" Yoroi gasped, blood spraying from his mouth as he fell to the ground.

Yoroi fell to the floor with a loud thud, Sasuke skidded down on his arm, his chest on the floor. Hayate looked around. He moved over to Yoroi, "Well, looks like some ones...down for the count." Hayate grinned at his own joke, Sasuke slowly rose to his feet. "Looks like someone's...grounded." Silence surrounded the room, Hayate sighed. "Fine. This match is over." Hayate rolled his eyes, clearing his scratch throat. "The winner of this preliminary round is..." Hayate glanced at his clip board. "Sasuke Uchiha." "Way to go!" I shouted, cheering him on. "Yeah, you're amazing Sasuke!" Sakura chimed in, "Pfft, he isn't that great." Naruto crossed his arms.

Sasuke fell back down to his , slowly leaning backwards. Kakashi appeared behind him, keeping Sasuke up with his knee, his face buried in his book. "Hm. Not bad." Kakashi said with a small nod, his other hand in his pocket. "Funny that, technique you used was very reminiscent of Guy's taijutsu. You must of used your sharingan to copy it when you fought with Rock Lee that one time." Kakashi looked down at him.

"Hey, you okay?" I called out, leaning my chest over the railing. "Hey, Sasuke! You won, but in such an uncool way! You came out looking like you're the one who got beat up! Hahaha!" Naruto shouted, giggling. Sakura walked up to the railing, a smile on her face. "You little...tch. Whatever." Sasuke turned his head away, a small smile growing on his lips. Sasuke...thank goodness. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.

Lee looked down at Sasuke, he stood right behind me. Rock Lee...if I hadn't seen your moves up close when we went head to head, this would of turned out badly. But still...I will never forgive you for trying to take my (Y/N) away. Sasuke turned away from him, his fists clenched. Amazing, he only saw me do it once, and he was able to copy it perfectly! So that is your special ability. You keep getting stronger all the time, this I can not allow! You are forever my rival! Lee clenched his fists, his eyes burning with determination. (Y/N) will be mine!

Guy turned his head over, impressive. But you can't expect to master high speed taijutsu and lotsu movements just like that. It takes more than just the sharingan. It takes blood, and sweat, the kind of training that runs away your flesh. Even so, that last move of yours...hm. He reminds me of you, Kakashi. When you were young. Guy put his hands on his hips.

To have already developed his sharingan to such a level...and to think. We haven't even seen his full Uchiha ability yet. Kakashi lowered his book, staring at Sasuke's back. I still can't believe it! Anko gritted her teeth, the curse mark receded as if he's gained control of it.

Gaara crossed his arms, holding them tightly against his chest. He stared down at Sasuke with a ice cold, murderous stare. Kankuro turned his head over to him. Oh, no. Not again. Kankuro sighed. Mikio took a step closer to the railing, "That kid." He whispered to himself, looking across the battlefield towards me. "They seem...familiar." Mikio said with a sigh, could it be...them? Mikio gritted his teeth, his fists clenched.

"Ha...ha...ha. I knew the whole time y-you'd be okay." Ino gasped out, Shikamaru glared down at Sasuke. This could be the end of the line for us. He thought with a sigh. "Man, I'm hungry...that cough drop did nothing..." Choji grumbled, looking down at the ground.

"W-Wow..." Hinata breathed out, looking down at Sasuke. "Tch, it wasn't anything that special." Kiba rolled his eyes, Shino shrugged.

"Hehehe~" Orochimaru grinned down, his lips creepily. "Gah!" I breathed out, a pain stinging into my neck. Sasuke gritted his teeth, another sting erupting in his too.

"Sasuke Uchiha. Maybe you should come along to the infirmary too and let us treat your injures." A medic called out, his buddys put Yoroi on a cot, he was out cold. Sasuke looked over at him, "I think you're out of your league with this one." Kakashi waved, continuing to read the page he stopped on. "Huh?" The medic looked over at Kakashi. "I'll look after him." Kakashi said with a nod, turning back to Sasuke.

"Okay, up you go. You're coming with me." Kakashi put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, "We've got to seal that curse mark." He whispered, "What about (Y/N)? And what about the preliminaries? I want to see who goes on to the finals." Sasuke said, turning his head back to Kakashi. "Forget it." Kakashi said with a sigh, "But-!" "Don't even think of arguing. Come on, let's go." Sasuke stood back up, his fists clenched.

Sasuke... Sakura thought, watching as Sasuke left with Kakashi, without a word. "Huh?" Naruto wondered, seeing Sasuke's hand clasped over the side of his neck. Naruto shook his head, "Hey. Guys, maybe I'm just crazy, but...did you see any weird marks on Sasuke's neck during the fight?" Naruto asked, his hands on his hips. Sakura turned her head to him, "And, come to think of it, (Y/N), you've been wobbling around, holding onto your neck too. I don't understand, what's going on?" Naruto looked over at me, "Oh...um..." I cleared my throat, I closed my eyes. "You've got to promise me that you won't tell Naruto about the curse marks." Sasuke asked Sakura, her freshly cut pink hair slid unevenly down the back of her neck. "Why?" She wondered, her hands in her hips. "There's nothing he can do about it, and we're a team, it doesn't do us any good if he's worried." Sasuke explained with a small sigh.

"W-What mark? I didn't see it." Sakura lied, shaking her head. "Yeah, I've got no clue what you're talking about." I shrugged, putting my hands on my hips. "Oh...okay." Naruto nodded, that's a bit...strange. He thought as he turned his head.

"Uh...well, okay then. Let's move right on to the next match." Hayate called out, taking a step closer. He waved the clip board in the air as a small signal, the screen shinned to life. Names flipping around, all eyes were on the screen once again. Come on, come on! I thought, clenching my fists.

ABUMI ZAKU VS. SHINO ABURAME

"Ha, which er is that?" Zaku chuckled, looking away from the screen, his arm tightly bound to the cast. Shino slowly turned his head over to Zaku, his glare cutting through his dark glasses. A loud cough broke in between them, Hayate waved his clipboard. "Both of you, step forward, please." He called out, watching as the two of them climbed down the stairs.

Zaku and Shino met each other, face to face. Shino's hands were in the front pockets of his coat, "Very good. Now if you're both ready, we'll begin." Hayata said with a small cough, I leaned my chest over the railing. Sakura was close behind me. That's that sound village shinobi, the one who nearly got his arms pulled off by Sasuke! Sakura shuddered, recalling the image of his skin snapping back. How is he going to fight with those arms? She thought, shaking her head.

"Do you think Shino will be alright?" Hinata whispered, looking down at the arena. "He's okay, don't you worry about him." Kiba shrugged it off, "Huh?" Hinata turned her head to him, "He's the last person here I'd ever want to take on." Kiba said with a nod. "Woo! Come on bug boy! You can beat that armless freak!" I shouted, pulling on the railing. Shino's face turned slightly pink, "Armless freak?! Why you-!" Zaku shouted back, Hayate waved in front of him. "Candidates ready?" He asked, eyeing Zaku suspiciously. "Begin." Hayate said, taking a step back.

Well, Zaku. How you pull this one off will be a sight to see. Dosu thought, turning his head back to Orochimaru. Orochimaru clasped his hands together, dissapereing in an instant.

"If you fight me, you won't be able to recover. Forfeit and withdraw." Shino looked down at Zaku, "Heh, well, what do ya know? I've got a little movement in one." Zaku chuckled, his left arm shook slightly. Zaku pulled back the thin cast with his teeth, holding his thankfully numb arm up. His palm facing Shino, "One arm's more than enough to beat you!" Zaku shouted, dashing towards Shino. His other arm limply bounced around in the cast, he hasn't felt anything from that one since the day it happened. Shino stood still, watching him run towards him. Zaku flung a fist towards Shino, Shino hit the center of Zaku's arm, a wall of pain came crashing down on him.

"You couldn't beat me using both your arms." Shino glared at him, "Yeah? Well I've got news for ya!" He shouted, drawing chakra to his extended arm. "Try this!" He screamed out, "Slicing sound wave!" Zaku turned his head away, a cloud of dust rising around him. He was gaping for air, Shino was on the floor. A grin came to Zaku's face.

Sasuke sat in the middle of the circle, Kakashi continued to draw characters down his back. With a small sigh of relief, he drew the last blood symbol. Kakashi's blood was starting to quickly dry, the cuts on his fingers throbbing melodically. "Okay. It'll be over quickly." Kakashi called out, standing up strait. "You ready?" Sasuke looked back at Kakashi, giving him a small nod. Kakashi clasped his hands together, his blood staining the glove on his other hand. Tora, Usagi, Hebi, Uma, Tora, Tori, O-hitsuji, Usagi, Hebi, Uma, Nezumi. "Curse sealing!" Kakashi said rather dramatically, placing his bleeding hand over Sasuke curse mark.

"AHHHHHH!" Sasuke screamed, his painful shriek echoing around the room. Kakashi kept his hand stead on Sasuke's neck, closing his eye as he controlled his chakra. Sasuke's blood curdling scream could be heard from miles around, his shoulders jerked violently. The symbols Kakashi drew circled up Sasuke's body, moving like pieces of ribbon in the wind. Kakashi released his hand, Sasuke fell forward onto his palms, gasping for air.

"There. Now, the next time that curse mark starts acting up, the seal should keep it in check. But, remember," Kakashi called out, Sasuke slowly turned his head. "This curse sealing jutsu is only as strong as you are. It derives its power from the strength of your will, if the will ever weakens, if you ever begin to doubt yourself, the curse will be unleashed in all it's fury." Sasuke wobbled around before falling down on his chest, out cold. Kakashi sighed, "Also. Your scream sounded like a girls." Kakashi said to himself with a small smile.

"My, how you've grown." "Huh?" Kakashi's head jerked up, Orochimaru stepped out from the shadows. "To think that you would've grown strong enough to preform the curse sealing jutsu." Orochimaru said with a small chuckle, "You." Kakashi slowly breathed out, turning his head around. "Long time no see, Kakashi." Orochimaru's disguise melted, "Orochimaru." Kakashi clenched his fists, staring him down. Orochimaru stared back.