Chapter Text
Uchiha Sasuke was sitting on a branch of a lone tree; the same one where he was entangled with thin ropes by his sensei, Hatake Kakashi. He vividly recalled the words of his sensei, that the latter had lost everybody that he loved in the past, which his cynical view had taken a hit.
The last Uchiha clan member initially believed that nobody would be able to sympathize, much less empathize with his internal pain and struggles of his clan's systematic manslaughter. Of course, he thought that Hatake Kakashi would be no different, but he was sorely mistaken as the young boy was contemplating if revenge was an objective he truly wished to achieve by any means necessary.
"...Even if your revenge is a success, all that'll come of it is emptiness. You'll only end up hurting and suffering more than you are now." Those words in particular lingered in the Uchiha's mind. He had dedicated his entire life to take revenge on the same man that had killed his clan, but tonight was the time he really took a step back and reflect on himself.
Sasuke thought about what he would lose. Team 7. The team that was brought together under the tutelage of Hatake Kakashi. The same team that had been teaching him what it meant to be a shinobi. Even though he kept convincing himself that such a loss is trivial, Kakashi's words stirred up that preconceived notion and he now couldn't believe it with absolute certainty.
"Uzumaki Naruto... Haruno Sakura... Kakashi-sensei." Those names struck a chord in his heart. One who has been guiding him to value teamwork and the life of his comrades. Another who was holding an unconditional love towards him. The last one, although thick as a brick wall, stubbornly and persistently challenged him, thus building him up to be better than what he was yesterday.
However, his thoughts would be cut short as he sensed large pools of chakra above him. Sasuke cocked his head up, witnessing a four-man squad with brown-toned outfits with purples ropes wrapped around their waists. Upon further inspection, the Uchiha boy found out that they were Sound ninja.
He had a feeling that looking for trouble, that was for certain, but they seemed to be in a talking mood. "What the hell do you want?"
The man with the light blue-grey hair snickered, jumping down from the rooftops onto the leaves as the other three follow. "Well, well... Uchiha Sasuke. Lord Orochimaru has spoken high praises of you ever since his encounter with you in the Forest of Death."
"Lord Orochimaru? Who in the-?" The last Uchiha member put two and two together, finally realizing that he, as well as his other team members, has encountered that same ninja.
"Tch." The pinkish red-haired girl scoffed, taking a closer look at the young boy sitting all by his lonesome. "This is the Uchiha brat that Lord Orochimaru had been talking about? I gotta say, he doesn't seem to be all that right now."
"Now, now, Tayuya," the shinobi with black shaggy hair placed his hand on the female ninja's right shoulder, moving a bit closer himself, "if Lord Orochimaru says that this boy is the real deal, then there should be no doubt, yeah? Besides, isn't that why we're here on this beautiful night?"
"Shut the hell up, Kidōmaru."
The tall and imposing fellow with the orange mohawk crossed his arms, not breaking eye contact with Sasuke. "That's right. This little brat has a curse mark on him... and we're here to give him a test of some sorts... to see if the rumors about him are true."
"That's right." The same light blue-grey haired shinobi with blue lipstick had the same smirk ever since he had touched down upon the trees. "Here's the thing, boy. Lord Orochimaru needs you for his long-standing personal project... so I suggest you play along with us for a bit.
Sasuke felt particularly peeved off as he was ready to face off against the Sound ninja. "Why do you think I'd go with you four? You think that I'd willingly come over to your side and-!?"
"Let me finish, you little brat." He retorted, stepping closer to the young boy. "In exchange for your cooperation, Lord Orochimaru promises that he would bestow upon you power that is simply unimaginable. Yes... Power that would rival... or even surpass Uchiha Itachi."
That one piqued his attention. Although he attempted to feign interest, he wondered if such a formidable opponent as Orochimaru could actually provide him with such immeasurable power. "And how would I know he will act out of goodwill? There's no way in hell that it won't come for free."
"And you're quite right," the female Sound shinobi cracked her head from side to side, "Lord Orochimaru doesn't give out free handouts... but... shouldn't that curse mark be proof of his good will?"
As she pointed to his left shoulder, the curse mark began to slowly flare up on the boy's body. "Yes... the Cursed Seal of Heaven. It was to give you the immense power needed to pass the preliminary round of the Chunin exams. You should've known firsthand of its latent capabilities, no?"
Sasuke thought for a second. "And you think I'd buy that? Not sure if any of you were there, but this damn curse mark did nothing but inhibit my chakra usage to the point that I actually struggled against a genin from your village. Don't give me that crap-!"
"And that's the issue." The shaggy black-haired Sound ninja spoke nonchalantly. "The Cursed Seal of Heaven rewards the user a dark power that enhances them up to tenfold. That is only if you allow the curse mark to do its work... The reason for your weakened chakra was due to your feeble resistance against it."
Sasuke pondered for a bit... and it all made sense to him.
The last Uchiha member recalled the times that he couldn't move his body due to his persistence in retaining his autonomy whilst under the effects of the Cursed Seal of Heaven. He then vividly remembered the time that he was half-conscious, which the cursed mark had indeed granted him immense power that more than compensated for his depleted chakra.
"Yes, it seems to be getting into your head, after all." The shinobi with the blue lipstick smiled, extending his pale hand towards the young boy. "That is the extent of Lord Orochimaru's generosity. He could've easily taken back his gift from you... but he didn't. So, if you want the power to kill Uchiha Itachi, then come with us."
"..."
Sasuke slowly approached the supposed leader of the four-man squad, reaching one of his hands out to accept the offer.
He then swiftly grabbed a kunai from his pouch and attempted to slice his hand clean off. Unfortunately for him, the leader himself caught the kunai and had an iron grip onto it as it forced Sasuke to leap backwards for a tactical retreat.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" He expelled a massive orb-shaped flame directed towards the four-man Sound squad as they jumped out of the way.
"Well, I suppose we're doing this the hard way, huh?" The large orange-haired individual cracked his knuckles, ready to use his hands rather than words. "Good. I was itching to get my hands dirty. Sakon... Udon... on your command."
The shinobi leader with the blue lipsticks, whose two heads appear from both sides of his body, gave a nod of approval. "Yes, Jirōbō. Sound Ninja 4! Formation!"
"Right!" The rest of the Sound Ninja Four replied before they disappeared in a flash. Kidōmaru was the first to rush, throwing a left strike only to be intercepted rather competently as Jirōbō tried to provide backup.
That didn't last long as after the interception, Sasuke immediately ducked down and flipped the large Sound ninja, smacking the spider ninja as well, before the two went hurling towards the tree trunk. As the smoke cleared, a bunch of logs were revealed.
"Tch. Is this all you got? I'm quite disappointed." The last Uchiha member cockily exclaimed, quite disappointed of their bravado just to be systematically dismantled so easily.
Sasuke then picked up the chakra signature as he looked behind him, seeing that the two men he had just thrown over to the thick tree trunk didn't seem to be affected whatsoever. The Sound Ninja 4 was staring down at the young boy with varying expression, though they all seemed to be unanimously unimpressed.
"I'm in a bad mood." The young boy reciprocated the stare, not wanting to stand down from the challenge.
"What a brat you are." Sakon and Ukon spoke in unison, clenching his right fist.
Sasuke then leapt from the tree trunk to make the offensive move against the leader of the four-man squad. The spider Sound ninja was about to intervene, but the twin shinobi stopped his teammate in his tracks before he himself blocked the incoming strike.
Sakon, the younger brother and host, and Ukon, the older brother, swatted the young Uchiha downwards, which the two took the fight on top of the roof platform. The Sound ninja stopped the sideways kick before he blocked the backwards kick that sent him a few inches away.
Sasuke dashed towards his opponent, throwing a combination of kicks and punches, which were easily intercepted. He did get some lucky hits, though they seemed to have little to no effect. The young man was holding his own by mostly evading the Sound shinobi's strikes, but he felt himself getting fatigued fast.
"Heh. Let's play a little music, shall we?" Sakon held a deep breath before he let out a glass shattering screech that knocked Sasuke back to the tree trunk. Before the boy could recover his footing, Kidōmaru launched his spider webs at him and flung him to the side.
Though he was able to redirect himself away from the ambush, it wasn't quick enough for him to notice Jirōbō in the corner of his eye as the large Sound shinobi shoulder tackled him back first onto the wall where Tayuya began utilizng a sound genjutsu right above him.
The other Sound Ninja 4 appeared right in front of Sasuke, standing menacingly. Sakon was the first to make a move, his smirk getting wider and wider as he picked the boy up by his leg. "I don't see what Lord Orochimaru saw in you. As far as I can tell, you're just a snotty nosed brat who thinks he's above everyone..."
He then threw the Leaf genin back to the wall with much more force, causing him to cough up blood. With his back literally and figuratively against the wall, Sasuke stood up and right on time, the curse mark resurfaced from his neck and began rushing towards the Sound Ninja 4.
Right before he could get a good hit in, Sakon grabbed him by the head as the latter revealed a curse mark of his own before he slammed him down onto the floor. "You think you're the only one who was bestowed with Lord Orochimaru's gift? You're truly a piece of work."
Sasuke had a hard time getting back up with the damage he sustained plus the curse mark weakening his chakra reserves. "The Leaf Village is truly making you soft. I'll tell you right now, boy... If you continue to reside yourself in a village such as this, you'll be a mediocre Uchiha at best..."
"Shut your damn mouth!"
"Deny it all you want, but you know it's true." The leader manually retracted the curse mark back to the point of origin on his neck. "Thinking that you can reach Uchiha Itachi's level by staying in the Leaf Village... that's quite stupid, is it not? Remember your purpose... or do you plan to abandon that entirely?"
"..."
Before Sasuke was able to retort, the young Uchiha member heard the iconic phrase in his ears, "Taju Kage Bunshin no Justu!"
In an instant, over a hundred shadow clones of a young child with a vibrant blue and orange tracksuit surrounded the Sound Ninja 4. "Naruto..."
"Heh... The Nine-Tails is here? Quite surprising." Sakon motioned his squadmates to make a formation as they were just about prepared to deal with the army. "You were quite formidable in the Chunin exams, I'll be the first one here to admit, but do you really think you can beat us?"
"I don't think so! I know so!" One shadow clone proclaimed, forming a fist and steeling himself for battle. "I don't know what the hell you're planning to do with Sasuke, but you gotta get through me first, believe it!"
Tayuya felt strangely irritated by the grating voice of the knucklehead ninja. "Shut your trap, you little brat! You sound so damn annoying, you know that!?"
"This one's gutsy," Kidōmaru exposed his four extra arms, "hope you can back it up, kid... Because there's no chance in hell that you'll get out of this alive if you're by yourself."
"We'll see about that!" Without wasting any precious time, the shadow clones began to rush to the Sound Ninja 4 with kunais armed. The four Sound ninja, believing that his clones are nothing but wastes of chakra, retaliated by dismantling each clone with efficiency and precision.
Jirōbō delivered a devastating backhand that sent a shadow clone hurling to a wall, which it disappeared in an instant. He then proceeded to smack the clones in large groups, making quick work of them.
Kidōmaru planted spider webs onto the ground, spreading them to deplete their chakra and force them to dissipate instantaneously. The ones who were wise enough to jump up from the ground didn't fare any better as they were being struck by web-hardened arrows.
Tayuya summoned three cronies as she used her flute to command them, ripping each shadow clone with into pieces. Her flute play persisted, which made some of the clones with weaker chakra reserves be held still as the cronies continued to tear them apart.
Sakon, as well as Ukon, rushed to the small groups of shadow clones as he blitzed them at the speed of sound. Even when some of them attempted to intercepted his attacks, his physical prowess was more than enough to overpower them and make them disappear in an instant.
The shadow clones were being massacred one by one or in small groups as twenty of them remain. "This is the best the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails has to offer? I must say, this proves my point that the Leaf Village is holding its shinobi back."
"Oh yeah!? Then how about this!?" The remaining shadow clones charged at the Sound Ninja Four, preparing to face them in a taijutsu bout.
Kidōmaru laughed out loud. "This again!? There's no way that you don't have a plan-!"
They didn't relent, some opting to launch one another at the enemy shinobi as they were able to lock them in place by pinning their legs down whilst some were able to take a hold on their arms.
Soon after, the Sound Ninja Four suddenly felt paralyzed as soon as the shadow clones came into contact with them. It was revealed behind the Sound shinobi that a pink-haired genin was holding a hand sign in place.
"What the-!?" Jirōbo tried to shake the feeling off, but it was nearly impossible, especially when the number of clones pinning him down was too much alongside the mysterious jutsu.
"Sakura..." Sasuke muttered, slowly getting himself back up.
"Thanks to you, Naruto, plan paralysis is indeed a success!" Sakura let out a chuckle, confident that they were able to restrain them for a time until help arrives. "With his shadow clones as bait, I'm able to hold a person down as long as the subject is a living person."
"Hmph. You Leaf shinobi aren’t half bad," Sakon, though still restrained, was able to slightly move his body to the side, "we definitely underestimated you... That doesn't mean you three won't die all the same-!"
"Chidori!!" The sound of a thousand birds registered in the Sound shinobi as a highly concentrated lightning attack was speeding directly towards them.
Upon contact, it made a massive flashbang that completely dissipated a few seconds later, revealing that the Sound Ninja Four had made their swift escape. The jonin that performed that lightning style technique was none other than Hatake Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei... When did you-" The Uchiha genin stood upright, but barely felt his body at all right before he landed onto Sakura's arms.
"Take it easy," the copy ninja approached the two members of Team 7 as the real Uzumaki Naruto followed suit, "Naruto had a bad feeling... so he went over here and tasked Sakura to notify me. It seems like the plan was a success, after all."
"Sasuke... are you alright?" The pink-haired genin held him tight with an iron grip as if he would slip from her grasp if she didn't hold on for dear life. "You... You had us worried."
Naruto put his hands behind his head, perplexed on a question looming in his head. "Who the heck were those jerks, anyway, Sasuke? And why were they after you in the first place?"
"...Because of Orochimaru."
Kakashi was shook beyond belief. Even after just ascertaining the Sound Ninja Four in a split second, he had a gut feeling that they had to be connected to one of the legendary Sanin... and it turned out to be correct. "What is he planning? I don't know why he wants Sasuke, but we should talk about this tomorrow."
"Wait just a minute!" The yellow-haired kid announced, grabbing the other Team 7 members' attention. "Let's sit down somewhere real quick! There's something I gotta tell him here and now!"
"..." As strange as the request was, the seventh team relocated themselves onto the ground as they sat down on a vacant bench. Sasuke especially was admittedly intrigued on what Naruto had to say.
"Sasuke... You were thinking about leaving the village, yeah?" Both of his genin teammates were left in utter disbelief, most especially the Uchiha boy, whilst Kakashi remained unfazed as if it was lingering in the back of his mind and that one of his students beat him to it.
"Naruto... What are you talking about?" Sakura raised her eyebrows, desperately wanting to know where his accusation came from.
"Those guys said something about Sasuke possibly joining them to gain enough power... to enact his revenge or whatever-!"
"Idiot! This is none of your damn business!" Sasuke grabbed him by his white collar. "Don't you dare butt into matters that shouldn't concern you in the first place!"
"Sasuke! Don't-!"
"And what if I don't, huh!?" Naruto was one to never back down and today in particular wasn't any different. "Yeah, I may not know how you feel at all, but that don't mean I'll let you lose yourself because of some revenge scheme you have!"
"Why the hell are you that concerned about me!? You don't understand... None of you will understand!"
"No, I don't!" Naruto unintentionally raised his voice that it broke midway, getting swayed by the intense emotions swirling inside of him. "But all I know is that I don't want to lose one of my only friends that I know!"
"..."
"And what about Sakura!? What about Kakashi-sensei!? Do you really want to sever the bonds that we made as Team 7!?" Even though the Uchiha genin activated his kekkei genkai dōjutsu, the hyperactive knucklehead ninja wasn't going to back down.
"You're like... a brother to me!" That one line shook Sasuke to his core. "A rival that pushed me to become better and better every single waking hour of the day! Someone that has finally acknowledged me as a ninja and not some demon parasite! I don't know about you, but I'd rather die than lose that connection!"
"..."
"And you know what!? If you still won't change your mind, then I'll become stronger... strong enough for you to finally take my words seriously! I never go back on my word... because that's my nindō!"
"Naruto..." Sakura was speechless. It was one of the first times that she was able to witness his heightened emotional state be borne from a deep sense of camaraderie and determination.
"He values his comrades that much, huh? Would you look at that?" Kakashi cleared his throat, garnering the attention of his team of genin. "I'd say it's time for us to hit the hay right about now. It just turned midnight... and we have a whole day ahead of us tomorrow."
"...Y-Yeah. I'm tired, anyway." Sasuke was the first to stand up from the bench before leaping onto a roof. However, he stopped for a bit, though he didn't bother turning back. "Good night... I suppose."
The rest of Team 7 sat there dumbfounded. The yellow-haired genin quickly snapped out of the trance as he smacked both of his cheeks "Hmph... Well, I'll get ready for tomorrow!"
"And why is that?" Sakura couldn't really resonate with his high energy, but actually found it to be adorable.
"What'd you think!? I wanna get ready for the Chunin exams the next time we're able to! The fact that there was an invasion... and we had to deal with Gaara from the Sand Village...! That's what I'm looking forward to!"
"..." Kakashi stared at the young Jinchūriki, pleasantly surprised that he hadn't lost his spirit one bit ever after his emotional outburst, knowing that it didn't take much to motivate him or give him hope. It's one of the few aspects that he came to respect about him.
"That's right." The copy ninja in the Leaf Village mentioned with a smile under his mask. "Well, of course, we may not be able to participate in the Chunin exams six months from now since we need to rebuild from the invasion..."
"...But we're sorting that out right now as we speak. In the meantime, that leaves Team 7 with the usual missions; meaning that there'll be more opportunities for you lot to refine your respective abilities and teamwork."
Naruto was over the moon. He couldn't wait to improve and show the world his value as a shinobi. Sakura, on the other hand, was particularly determined by her desire to catch up to both her teammates; to not be deadweight any longer.