Shizukesa: [39] - Preparation

He was ready to push his way through the mass of genin, but upon seeing him, they just got out of his way. They were crowded in a wide circle around the two ninja with crossed out headbands and the mysterious blue eyed one.

As seemed to be the usual routine, Tsuta and Iwamaru were spouting off insults like it was their only talent.

Sasuke focused instead on their opponent, who stood stock still and didn't blink once. Narrowing his eyes, he activated his sharingan and stifled a startled flinch.

His chakra was ridiculously potent, and there was enough of it to destroy the entire building without even breaking a sweat.

Well, they're dead.

He slunk back and made his way to the now-unoccupied slip of paper with the pairings for the next round.

~ ~ ~

Sasuke caught the punch with his left hand, managing not to shatter every bone in his arm in the process. He grabbed the inside of her elbow with his right, and twisted his body, using all of the momentum to toss Sakura across the clearing like a twig.

She spun around, launching three kunai at him before landing on her feet and performing a few hand signs.

Hm?

Sasuke hadn't seen her use a ninjutsu... ever. His sharingan faded over his night-colored eyes, and he drew his sword, catching one of the kunai and sending it back.

She grinned, and he jumped back as his sharingan produced a preemptive afterimage of her moving near his own speed.

Punches and kicks were exchanged at the speed of sound, dodged and countered in equal amounts. For nearly ten minutes they fought back and forth with neither gaining an advantage, until Sasuke decided to get serious.

He shoved her arm away from him, hard, knocking her off-balance and swept a backhanded punch around at her face. She barely caught it with her other arm, and he jumped into the air over her head, twisting her hand and pulling her into midair.

He didn't bother finishing the killer combination.

They landed across from each other, breathing heavily.

“Sasuke...” she panted, putting her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

“Hmm?” He inhaled, refilling his lungs with precious oxygen.

“Don't go easy on me tomorrow.” She looked him dead in the eyes, determination flowing behind her emerald orbs.

~ ~ ~

Lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, sleep evaded Sasuke once more. His body was exhausted, but his mind wouldn't let him rest.

“Your hatred isn't strong enough...”

He sprung off of his bed, grabbed a freezing cold glass of water and downed it in a single gulp. He felt the iciness run down his throat and into his chest, and he clicked open the window. Nature's breath ran down his face, beckoning him.

Shutting the window behind him, he hopped into the air like a raven. Silhouetted by the moon, he slipped from rooftop to rooftop, running like a river towards the edge of the cityscape.

Through thick forest he forced his way into a secluded cove overlooking a deep lagoon. An owl hooted overhead as it dove over the water's mirror surface, skimming the tops of the trees.

Sasuke stepped out onto the clear waters, his feet rippling out little waves of water. Once he reached the middle, he closed his eyes and just listened.

Hours later, he heard an unnatural clunkiness, and the sound of human voices.

Opening his eyes, he saw his teammates pushing their way through brambles and branches.

He sighed, counting to three in his head.

Right on cue, Karin stepped out onto the empty air and plummeted into the water.

~ ~ ~

“We will now begin the second round. Contestants, for the first match please come down.”

Gaara and the blue eyed powerhouse from the other day appeared instantly in front of the proctor, facing each other and exuding deadly amounts of skill.

It turned out to be a bad match for Gaara.

The blue eyes' methodology was surprisingly similar, but instead of sand, he wielded a fine powder that seemed to be harder than steel. In addition, he was fast. He incapacitated Gaara's sand defences with his own, and with the opening, performed brutal taijutsu combinations on his unprotected body. He didn't betray a single sign of emotion or humanity.

Gaara ended up running out of chakra from defending the whole time. The proctor awarded the match to the mystery man, whose name was revealed to be Kaito.

Sasuke was next. He faced his opponent with weary eyes and a half-amused smirk.

“Remember what I said. Don't go easy on me.” Sakura looked him dead in the face.

He reached his hands behind his neck and fumbled them there for a second, before drawing the silver chain from under his shirt. A three pronged crystal lay at the end, like the sharpened innards of a peace symbol without the circle. It was the same pure black color as his eyes. He tossed it to her, and she caught it with a question in her emeralds.

“If you say so.”