"Hmph try again little man" Yorio taunted as he had managed to block the kick with his forearm.
Sasuke twisted around again and brought the sheer weight of his right arm crashing down hard on Yorio's neck. Yorio didn't move or make a sound, Sasuke took this as a good sign. He had the final finishing blow and he was close enough to the ground to make it work.
Pushing himself up and hovered a little in mid-air over Yorio, Sasuke propelled his right leg down and hit his opponent hard in the stomach.
"LION'S BARRAGE!" Sasuke yelled as he delivered the hit, causing Yorio to hit the ground face up. Sasuke skidded back and rolled over himself. Neither candidate moved.
Hayate walked over slowly and examined Yorio. Well this one is out, he thought. Suddenly his head snapped up as he heard a groan from the Uchiha boy.
Completely out of breath but still alive, Sasuke got to his feet and wiped the blood away from his lips. Sakura smiled, against all odds he had been able to pull through.
"I'm declaring this match over, the winner of the first preliminary battle is Sasuke Uchiha. He will advance to the final round" Hayate said and coughed violently.
"ALRIGHT SASUKE WAY TO GO!" Naruto yelled out with huge grin plastered on his face.
"It looks like we're up Sakura" Kakashi said quietly.
"Right" Sakura replied.
"Huh? Where are you two going!?" Naruto asked, frantically.
"Sakura and I are going to take Sasuke to a hospital within this tower, Sakura needs the exposure for her medical ninjutsu training" Kakashi explained to the blond boy.
"Oh, well are you going to be here to see me fight!? And what about Sakura-chan's match?" Naruto quizzed.
"Lord Hokage will not start Sakura's match until she has returned, if it is announced while we are gone then the match will go to the back of the queue. We won't be too long Naruto and we should be back to see you fight" Kakashi said, trying to reassure his loud student.
"Wait, Sakura before you go. Did anyone see any weird marks on Sasuke's neck during the fight?" Naruto questioned his teammate suspiciously.
"No, sorry Naruto. I didn't see anything" Sakura replied quickly, Kakashi looked at his female student but said nothing.
With that Sakura jumped down onto the arena floor, Sasuke saw her approaching and gave her a confused look.
I'm so exhausted, he thought and would have collapsed onto the floor had it not been for Kakashi's sudden appearance in a cloud of white smoke. He propped Sasuke up with his knee.
"Well, not too bad. Up until the Lion's Barrage your technique was very similar to Gai's taijutsu. I'm assuming you used the Sharingan to copy Rock Lee's moves when you two battled before the Chunin Exams" Kakashi said, nose in his orange book.
"Hn. Sakura" Sasuke said, ignoring his sensei.
"Congratulations, you did well" Sakura said.
"Yeah, thanks for the hint before" Sasuke smirked up at her and Sakura laughed lightly.
What is little miss Forehead doing down there now? She'll take every chance she can to get close to Sasuke won't she! Ino fumed inwardly.
Amazing, Sasuke only saw my move once and he was able to copy it perfectly with his Sharingan, Lee thought in utter shock as he observed Sasuke from the balcony above.
That was magnificent! Orochimaru thought, his long tongue escaping the caverns of his mouth and ran over his lips.
Sakura watched as two medics came and lifted Yorio onto a stretcher and carried him off to the infirmary. Another medic approached herself, Kakashi and Sasuke.
"Sasuke Uchiha, you'll need to come with us back to the infirmary so we can treat your injuries" the medic said.
"I think you're out of your league with this one, besides Sakura and I will take care of him" Kakashi declared, eyes never leaving his book.
Sasuke shot Sakura an accusing look but Sakura just shrugged it off. She bent down and put Sasuke's arm around her shoulder to help him stand up.
"Where are we going?" Sasuke asked, a little annoyed.
"We've got to seal that curse mark!" Kakashi answered in a low and serious voice
"Before the preliminaries are over!? I want to see Sakura and Naruto's battles, and to see who goes on to the finals!" Sasuke complained and his female teammate rolled her eyes.
"Forget it, don't even think of arguing. If we leave it any longer who knows what will happen, it may be too late. I've cut you enough slack, so cooperate with us" Kakashi said, making the final decision.
Sasuke huffed but stood up with Sakura's assistance, finally able to relax he trudged alongside her with Kakashi bringing up the rear as all three exited the arena.
Kakashi sliced his finger tip open with a kunai knife and began writing a series of symbols along Sasuke's shirtless back, connecting them all to the curse mark. These were the same symbols that littered the ground for the sealing spell, circles drawn with kunai stretched out among the ground symbols. Sasuke sat in the middle of all of this.
Kakashi had directed them into an isolated room within the tower where Lord Hokage had given them permission to perform the sealing.
Sakura knelt in front of her teammate, chakra flowing freely from her right hand as she covered the major wounds on Sasuke's body stitching the skin back together. Sasuke breathed in deeply, Sakura's chakra had a cooling effect on his body and he felt more relaxed immediately. Kakashi had explained to both his students that sealing spell would take a lot out of Sasuke, thus it was important for Sakura to heal what she could of him.
"I think we're ready to go, Sakura you need to step outside of the circle. Keep an eye on Sasuke's vitals and if you see any sort of major drop you need to intervene" Kakashi instructed.
"Got it" Sakura said and walked to the outer edge of the circle.
"Sakura" Sasuke said in an exhausted tone, he missed her chakra and soothing presence instantly.
"I'm right here Sasuke, you'll be fine. This is the best way for you to deal with this mark" Sakura said in a calm voice.
"This will be quick don't worry. You ready? " Kakashi asked and Sasuke nodded slowly.
The silver haired man performed a quick series of hand signs before resting his hand on the curse mark.
"FUJAHOIN! THE SEALING OF THE CURSE!" Kakashi called out loudly.
Sakura watched in fascination as all the symbols her sensei had drawn on the ground in his own blood crawled up Sasuke's arms and back to connect at the curse mark. Sasuke screamed in pain, a sound which made Sakura cringe inwardly.
Maintaining her vital check, Sakura could see Sasuke's chakra was low but not to the point of drastic. He just radiated exhaustion, he needed to rest. Kakashi withdrew his hand, the sealing was over. All the marks had combined to form a black circle around the curse mark.
"There, the next time the curse mark begins to activate the seal should keep it in check. But the curse sealing jutsu is only as strong as you are, it holds because of your will power. If you ever start to doubt yourself the curse will be unleashed in all its fury" Kakashi explained and Sasuke suddenly fell forward.
Sakura quickly rushed to Sasuke's aid but found he had reached his limit of exhaustion and passed out.
"I've never seen him like this, too tired to argue" Kakashi chuckled.
"My, how you've grown Kakashi, to think you've become strong enough to perform the sealing jutsu" A familiar voice said from the back of the room.
It's him, Orochimaru! He's come for Sasuke! Sakura thought and quickly shielded Sasuke's collapsed body. The voice chuckled at her response.
"It's you" Kakashi said calmly.
"It's been a long time huh Kakashi, hello again to you Sakura. I see you're still healthy and well, and look even assisting your teacher with your chakra abilities. Wonderful" Orochimaru said, licking his lips in anticipation.
Sakura? Has he got some sort of sick design on her too, the silver haired man thought but his female student seemed to be holding up well. No curse mark or sign of manipulation from Orochimaru.
"What are you doing here!?" Kakashi demanded.
"Well no offence Kakashi, I didn't come to see you. My business is with the boy the young lady guards so fiercely" Orochimaru said and Sakura narrowed her eyes at the snake man.
"What do you want with Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
"Ah, you've acquired something new since we last met, how I envy your good fortune Kakashi. The Sharingan in your left eye, after all it's only fair that I should want it too. The power of the Uchiha clan" Orochimaru replied.
Kakashi-sensei acquired the Sharingan? And he's met Orochimaru before? Sakura thought.
"What's your game?" Kakashi pressed.
"The Sound Village that everyone is so curious about, I created it. I think you'll understand that Kakashi, but to play the game as you put it I need pieces on the chessboard. Willing pawns to do my bidding" Orochimaru chuckled slightly.
"And Sasuke, he's one of these pawns?" Sakura asked angrily and Orochimaru turned to look at her.
"Oh no my dear Sakura, your precious Sasuke is not a pawn. He's far more valuable than that, but as for the others. Well I'm sure you know how chess works, pieces must be sacrificed!" Orochimaru hissed.
With this, the snake man began to take careful slow steps towards Kakashi, looking straight through him at Sakura and the ultimate prize, Sasuke.
"STOP DON'T COME A STEP CLOSER!" Kakashi yelled and took up a fighting stance, one arm dangled between his legs, his other arm supporting it. Sakura watched her sensei with wide eyes, she'd never seen him lose his cool before.
Suddenly a huge burst of chakra formed a ball of light in Kakashi's palm, the noise sounded like millions of birds screeching at a high pitch frequency.
W-what jutsu is that? Sakura wondered.
"I don't care if you are one of the Sanin, the three shinobi of legend. I swear, take one more step towards Sasuke and one of us will die here!" Kakashi spat.
Orochimaru began to laugh a loud sadistic laugh which echoed around the room. "What say you Sakura? Will you defend poor Sasuke's life with your brave and noble sensei over here?" he taunted.
"Damn straight I will, like Kakashi-sensei said you take one step more step towards Sasuke and someone will die here. Hopefully it's you" Sakura replied angrily and drew out her kunai.
"Such a fiery girl! Reminds me of my dear teammate. Your loyalty is strong Sakura, I am very impressed with you. As for you Kakashi, your noble efforts are all in vain here. Do you really believe the seal will hold, do either of you believe you can keep him from what he desires most? He is an avenger after all" Orochimaru said, keeping his distance.
Kakashi's technique continued to spark and the noise became more intense. "So, you think you can use that against him? Not Sasuke, no way" he replied.
"You cannot stop it, at some point he will come to me in search of power. Unless of course you carry out your threat to kill me, now is your chance" Orochimaru said and walked away.
Kakashi's technique vanished instantly, Sakura watched as Orochimaru gave her sensei the opportunity to attack. When Kakashi did not do this, the snake man vanished.
What was I thinking, one of us will die here? Endanger my students, how foolish of me, Kakashi thought.
"Kakashi-sensei, I think we should take Sasuke to the infirmary now" Sakura spoke quietly.
Seeing Orochimaru again had made her very uneasy. Especially with all the hints he had been throwing around about her being of interest to him, Kakashi did not need to hear that.
"Right, I will communicate what has happened with Lord Hokage and request that the Anbu Black Ops guard him carefully" Kakashi replied.
Both ninja lifted Sasuke up carefully, putting a hand to his lips Kakashi cleared the room of all traces of the sealing spell before transporting himself and his students to the infirmary.
"Ah man! There have been some seriously good fights so far and I just want to get into it already! Where are Kakashi and Sakura!?" Naruto ranted at Lee who was standing next to him.
"Yo" A voice came from behind, the blond boy turned quickly to see that Kakashi and Sakura had appeared in a puff of smoke curtsey of Kakashi.
"Kakashi sensei! Sakura-chan! How is the teme?" Naruto called out, overjoyed to see his teammate and sensei.
"Sasuke is sleeping in the infirmary, safe and sound" Kakashi said and Naruto grinned.
"Have you had a chance to fight yet Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"No not yet but the last couple of matches have been pretty intense. Shino went up against that Zaku guy, Shino one by using those creepy bugs of his to gain an advantage. The match just before you guys cam was between that Kankuro guy and the other one of Kabuto's teammates Misumi somebody. Anyway Kankuro used that thing on his back which turned out to be a puppet and totally crushed Misumi with it!" Naruto finished, he had spoken very fast and paused to take in a breath.
"I see, so you two still have to fight. I wonder who you will be matched up against" Kakashi mused.
I still have enough chakra to battle properly, but that encounter with Orochimaru has definitely been a distraction. Are those Anbu Black Ops going to be enough, what if he tries to take Sasuke from the infirmary? Sakura thought, looking at the ground and not paying attention.
"Sakura" Kakashi said, drawing her out of her thoughts.
"Hm, sorry sensei what did you say?" Sakura asked, still a little distracted.
"You're up" the silver haired man replied simply.
"Alright Sakura you can totally do this!" Naruto cheered as Sakura gazed up at the digital screen.
Sakura Haruno vs Yamanaka Ino
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