Chapter 2
"SASUKE!" Sakura Haruno cried out, rushing forward to throw her arms around him in a desperate embrace. The sudden contact nearly shattered the suffocating tension that had gripped the clearing.
As tears streamed down Sakura's face and she clung tightly to him, burying her face against his chest, the sinister black markings that had spread across Sasuke's skin began to recede. They shrank back toward their origin, the Cursed Seal on his left shoulder, retreating like shadows fleeing the dawn.
The foul, oppressive chakra that had poured from his body, thick with malice and rage, gradually dissipated into nothingness, leaving only the faint scent of ozone in the air, sharp and metallic, like the aftermath of a lightning strike.
Breathless and still trembling, Sakura pulled back just enough to speak, her hands gripping the front of his torn shirt. "Lee came here to help me," she explained in a rush, her voice cracking with emotion. "But he was ambushed by the Sound ninja." Her words cut through the lingering haze of battle, prompting Sasuke to deactivate his Sharingan. The red glow vanished from his eyes, replaced by their usual dark intensity, though the faint ache behind them remained.
Sasuke gave a subtle nod toward Neji, who remained perched on a nearby tree branch, arms still crossed. By extinguishing his Sharingan, Sasuke silently conveyed his gratitude for the earlier standoff, and an unspoken promise: he would not attack unless provoked.
Neji held his position, posture unchanged and composed, but the veins around his eyes smoothed as he deactivated his Byakugan.
In that quiet moment, an unspoken truce settled between the two proud shinobi. Neither would escalate the situation further. The forest seemed to exhale with them, the distant sounds of conflict, fading into an uneasy calm, broken only by the rustle of leaves overhead.
From the edge of the clearing, Shikamaru Nara stood with his teammates, arms crossed and shoulders finally relaxing as the oppressive air began to lift. He let out a long, weary sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Finally. The tension's eased up. For a second there, I really thought things were about to get ugly."
"You worry too much," Ino Yamanaka replied with forced confidence, tossing her long blonde hair over one shoulder. "Sasuke-kun wouldn't go that far." Yet her bright blue eyes betrayed her, wide and flickering with unease as she stole another glance at him.
As someone unusually sensitive to chakra, she had felt the full weight of that dark, corrosive energy radiating from Sasuke earlier. Even now, the memory sent an involuntary shiver down her spine. It had been vile, almost nauseating, like something rotten and alive slithering across her senses, leaving a greasy residue behind.
Choji Akimichi, munching absentmindedly on a fresh bag of potato chips he'd pulled from his pouch, tilted his head curiously. Unlike his teammates, he seemed completely at ease, the earlier danger already fading from his mind like smoke.
"But what was with those markings? And that creepy chakra?" he asked through a mouthful, genuine curiosity lighting up his round face. There wasn't a trace of wariness in his voice; he was simply intrigued, the way he might be about a strange new flavour of snack.
Shikamaru glanced sidelong at Sasuke, who was still wrapped in Sakura's clinging embrace, then quickly looked away. "I don't know," he muttered, deliberately avoiding any direct question to the Uchiha.
"More importantly… where's the other one? I don't see Naruto anywhere," he asked, shifting the conversation smoothly.
Ino jerked her chin toward the massive tree roots nearby, where a natural hollow had formed a shallow cave beneath the earth. "He's probably still in there, sleeping as if nothing happened."
Choji's face brightened at the mention of Naruto. "Oh yeah! Let's go wake him up." The two of them turned and ambled toward the hidden spot, leaving Ino to hover uncertainly near the others.
At that moment, a cheerful voice broke through the lingering quiet. Tenten leapt down from the branches of a nearby tree, landing lightly on the forest floor with a bright smile that didn't quite hide her worry. "Lee! Wake up! You can't just sleep here!" She hurried over to where Rock Lee lay sprawled on the ground, still unconscious from his earlier battle with the Sound ninja, his green jumpsuit torn and stained with dirt.
"Lee. Wake. Up!" Tenten grabbed his shoulders and began shaking him vigorously, as though trying to rattle consciousness back into him like loose change in a can. The motion was so enthusiastic and so relentless that even Sasuke, standing a short distance away, blinked in faint bewilderment.
For a fleeting second, Sasuke found himself thinking that Lee might actually have sustained fewer injuries from the Sound ninja's brutal ambush than he was now enduring at the hands of his own teammate. Lee's head flopped back and forth like a rag doll, yet Tenten's smile never wavered.
... (Yeah, third-person perspective is really hard for me to write)...
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+Sasuke Uchiha+
I leaned back against the rough bark of a nearby tree, arms crossed, eyes scanning the surrounding forest for any sign of lingering threat. The air still carried the faint metallic tang of blood mixed with the earthy dampness of the undergrowth, but for now, the danger had passed.
Across the clearing, Ino was fussing over Sakura's newly shortened hair, gently combing through the uneven bob with her fingers and trimming it with a kunai she'd pulled from her pouch to fix the ragged ends. Sakura sat quietly on a fallen log, letting her friend work, though her gaze kept drifting toward me with that familiar mix of worry and something softer I didn't want to name.
On the opposite side, Naruto was making a complete spectacle of himself. He'd only just woken up from his unnatural sleep in the root cave, and now he was bouncing around like an over-caffeinated puppy, arms flailing as he complained about missing the entire fight, his voice echoing off the trees.
"Take it easy," Choji said calmly, popping another chip into his mouth. "It's not like you could've done anything to help anyway."
"And you staying out of the whole thing was honestly the best kind of help you could've given," Shikamaru added in that same deadpan tone, not even bothering to look up from where he was crouched examining a map he'd pulled from his vest, one finger tracing a rough path toward the tower.
"HEY! That's not fair!" Naruto shouted, practically jumping up and down in protest. "I would've taken care of those Sound ninja without even breaking a sweat! Believe it!"
"Yeah, yeah. I believe you," Choji replied, voice flat and utterly unconvincing.
"Same," Shikamaru echoed, matching Choji's monotone perfectly, like they were humouring a toddler throwing a tantrum.
I didn't blame them. Naruto really was acting like a child right now, full of restless energy despite everything. Even after Orochimaru had mostly sealed his chakra and disrupted his control, he was still vibrating with life, his orange jacket flapping as he gestured wildly. For a fleeting moment, I envied that vitality. The thought barely formed before the Curse Seal answered with a sharp, burning pulse deep in my shoulder, like hot coals shifting under my skin.
I hated it. I hated the seal more than I could put into words.
The weight of the Earth Scroll tucked inside my pouch reminded me of our precarious position. We only had one scroll; the Sound team had surrendered theirs before slinking away like beaten dogs, tails between their legs. What we needed now was to reach the tower as quickly as possible.
But without tapping into the seal, I couldn't activate my Sharingan properly. And the seal itself was insidious, always whispering, not literally, but the feeling was there, a low, constant pressure pushing me to rely on it more. In short, I wasn't in any shape to fight prolonged battles, stay constantly alert, or keep both myself and the curse under control for much longer. Every step felt like walking a tightrope over a pit.
"Shikamaru," I said, breaking the lighthearted banter. My voice carried just enough to cut through the chatter.
Everyone froze. Even my own teammates looked startled. Shikamaru tensed, his sharp eyes flicking toward me as though expecting an attack.
"Let's team up."
The words hung in the air. Surprise rippled across every face: Sakura's eyes widened, Naruto's mouth dropped open mid-protest, and Ino actually stopped mid-braid. Shikamaru blinked once, clearly caught off guard.
I was annoyed at myself for having to ask. Asking for help felt like weakness. But this was practical. Two teams together could move faster, watch each other's backs, share watches through the night, and get medical attention sooner if things went south. Still, I wasn't about to admit that outright.
"The main reason is this seal on my shoulder." I tilted my head slightly, exposing the dark, three-tomoe-like mark that still throbbed faintly beneath my collar, the skin around it slightly raised and inflamed. Team 10's attention sharpened instantly, curiosity and wariness mingling in their expressions.
"We were attacked by Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, right after the second exam began. He placed this seal on me… and he also put one on Naruto."
"What?!" Choji blurted, nearly dropping his chip bag, crumbs scattering across the ground.
"Orochimaru?" Ino's voice cracked with disbelief. She whipped her head between Naruto and me. "You mean the S-rank missing-nin? That Orochimaru?"
"…This is seriously becoming troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, but his lazy drawl was gone. His eyes had turned razor-sharp, calculating, already running through scenarios.
"That chakra you felt earlier… it came from this seal," I continued, keeping my tone level. "I don't want to use it again. We need to report this to our jōnin sensei and the Hokage as soon as possible. I want this thing removed."
Ino glanced at Shikamaru, already reading his decision before he spoke. "No problem. We can work together."
"…Sasuke-kun…" Sakura looked up at me, her green eyes complicated, guilt, gratitude, and something heavier swirling behind them. She probably thought I was doing this because of her, because I'd been pushed to the edge protecting her earlier.
"…Sure," Shikamaru finally said, meeting my gaze directly. "I don't want to stay in this forest any longer than necessary either."
Our eyes locked for a moment. We understood each other perfectly. He knew this was my way of asking for cooperation without saying the words outright. He also knew that two teams together would be stronger, more eyes, more bodies, but that it could just as easily become chaotic if we didn't coordinate. We'd never trained together. Trust would have to be earned on the move.
"Take the leader position," I told him. "Our team only has the Earth Scroll. I need to rest." Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked back toward the root cave, intending to check on something that had been nagging at the edge of my thoughts.
Behind me, I heard Shikamaru's stunned silence. The idea of me, Sasuke Uchiha, voluntarily handing him command clearly threw him.
"Hey! Hey! Why does the lazy bum get to be leader and not me?!" Naruto exploded, chasing after me. "Wait, Sasuke! Answer me!"
"Shikamaru, do your best," Choji said cheerfully, completely ignoring Naruto's outburst as he clapped his friend on the back with enough force to make Shikamaru stumble forward a step.
"Sure. Sure," Shikamaru sighed, the words heavy with mock reluctance. But I caught the subtle shift, the tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction. My cooperation had relieved him as much as it pressured him.
Which was good in my book, as we needed a motivated Shikamaru Nara.