Everything Sucks

Naruto could take a punch. He had taken many over the years. Never, in his memory, had he been impacted so forcefully that he had blacked out. The damage was healed almost as quickly as it occurred, so Naruto was treated to the pleasant experience of crashing through a mess of thick, Hashirama-grown tree branches.

“This sucks,” Naruto wheezed, looking up at a piece of sky through the broken branches. He couldn’t afford to lay around and watch the clouds. He pushed himself up, grimacing at the sharp, freshly-healed feeling as he touched his jaw. 

Sasuke was screaming. 

Naruto shot up, racing towards the sound. 

“Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun! Naruto! Sasuke-kun is—”

He landed next to his teammates, one hand on the hilt of a sword he barely knew how to use. Naruto’s eyes darted around, but the malignant presence had vanished as quickly as it appeared. 

Sasuke was bent over on all fours, gripping his neck. Sakura was hovering over him, crying as he moaned in pain.

“What happened?” Naruto asked thickly, jaw not quite working. 

“That man bit Sasuke-kun,” Sakura sobbed.

“Man?” Naruto asked, hurrying over. 

There’s something wrong with his chakra, Kurama said, growling.

“Is it a venom? Have you practiced removing poisons?”

“R-right,” Sakura said, reaching a shaking hand for Sasuke’s wound. 

Naruto fumbled in his pouch for the right seal, slapping it on Sasuke’s forehead. He stopped screaming and slumped in Sakura’s arms. 

“What did you do?” she said, turning accusing eyes on him. 

“There’s something wrong with his chakra,” Naruto explained. “It was causing him pain. So I used a suppression tag. Try removing the venom, or whatever it was. It was a snake bite?”

Sakura nodded, her hands lighting with green chakra. “Maybe that person put chakra in him? I don’t know how to remove foreign chakra, Naruto. And there’s a weird mark on Sasuke-kun’s neck.”

Naruto knelt down to look. Sakura’s face was pinched in concentration, and to Naruto’s surprise, thin tendrils of some dark liquid were being drawn up into her hands. He looked at the new symbol on Sasuke’s neck. It was three tomoe arranged in a circle, reminding Naruto a little of Sasuke’s Sharingan. But there was something off about it, something sinister. 

It’s natural energy, Kurama said. That thing has accumulated natural energy. 

What? Naruto asked. I’ve never heard of that.

I’ll explain later, Kurama said. The important thing is that it takes years for humans to use natural energy without killing themselves. Whatever that is might end up killing the Uchiha. Your seal has slowed it down. Natural energy is mixed in with the chakra, and without chakra circulating that thing is ineffective. 

“I can’t get anymore,” Sakura said, shaking her hands so her iryo chakra, and whatever the hell she had drawn out of Sasuke, fell far below onto the forest floor. “He needs an actual medic. And that…thing on his neck?”

“It might be a kind of seal,” Naruto suggested hesitantly. 

“You know fuinjutsu,” she said hopefully. “Sensei has talked about it. Can you do something?”

Naruto shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. You called that person a man?”

Sakura nodded. “When Sasuke used his katon, part of his face…melted off. He said his name was Orochimaru, and that this thing was a present for Sasuke. That Sasuke would seek him out for power. And that he would send his team from Otogakure to test him.”

“Fuck,” Naruto breathed, feeling extraordinarily lucky that Orochimaru had only wanted to play around with them. “We need to go.”

“He burned our scroll,” Sakura said. Her eyes were hazy, clouded by tears. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t do anything. I’m so sorry, I—”

“Sakura,” Naruto said. “Orochimaru is one of the Sannin. He’s been a missing-nin for longer than any of us have been alive. I doubt any of the jounin in the village could go up against him. We’ve only been ninja for a few months. We didn’t stand a chance.”

Naruto swallowed his own guilt. If he had been braver, more willing to risk exposing himself as a jinchuuriki, then maybe Sasuke wouldn’t have gotten hurt. 

Or maybe Orochimaru would have left two of them with presents. 

“We need to find shelter,” Naruto said. Sasuke was down and Sakura was freaking out. He needed to keep it together for his team. “I’ll send out more clones to scout. All of my clones vanished when I was knocked out. But, right now, we have to find a place to keep Sasuke safe, okay?”

Sakura nodded mutely, wiping her eyes. She looked like Orochimaru had knocked her around too. Naruto carefully lifted Sasuke.

"That wasn't our scroll," he added. "Just so you know. It was a decoy I made."

To her credit, Sakura took this admission in stride, falling into step as Naruro led them through the trees.

Naruto took one look at the body floating down the river and decided he needed to learn more suiton jutsu.

The only ones he sort of knew created vast amounts of water. They were forbidden techniques for a reason, since the chakra cost was proportional to the volume of water created. Naruto wasn’t sure if the water was even potable since it was made out of chakra. 

He sent a clone to check further upriver, and a few more to find other water sources. It was possible there were more bodies, or other contaminants. It was an oversight on his part. While he had brought plenty of ration bars, he had hoped water would be easier to come by, or at least safer. They could go without, or steal from another team…

Naruto sighed and started back for their camp. 

The night had been exhausting. Sasuke was still unconscious and running a fever. Naruto had to knock Sakura out to get her to rest, while he ran himself ragged using clones to guard and set up traps. He didn’t know how they were going to make it through the exam, and wondered if it would be better for them to forfeit and get Sasuke medical attention. He grimaced at what Sasuke’s reaction to that might be. 

He slowed as he neared their camp. They had found a small shelter under a tangle of tree roots. Naruto wasn’t that knowledgeable about barrier sealing—barriers were as effective at keeping people in as keeping them out, and he was wary of trapping his team in one—but he had littered the perimeter of their camp with explosive tags and other traps that would give them ample time to flee or prepare a counterattack. That and the clones he had left on guard were the defenses he could muster. 

With Kurama's help, he set up a small barrier for Sakura to trigger if she was attacked. Sakura had surprised him with a genjutsu she had been learning. It wasn’t much, just one that made minor changes to their environment, but it was subtle enough to give them an edge.

It was almost dawn, and he hoped few teams would be moving around so early. He planned for his team to rest during the day and move at night. A lot depended on whether Sasuke was conscious. A clone could carry him, but could be dispelled with one hit, and people would undoubtedly target the most injured member of their team. 

Naruto heard a ringing in his ears and a felt wave of nausea. He paused, bracing himself on a trunk as he fought the urge to vomit. One of the clones guarding their camp had been violently dispelled. The memories were fractured and disoriented. 

It was the Otogakure team which Orochimaru had threatened them with. A smirking girl. A boy with holes in his hands. A boy with a metal arm with holes in it. That was the one who dispelled the clone, having somehow heard the clone breathing. Naruto rubbed at his ear, feeling the phantom pain of his eardrum rupturing. It made sense for Oto-nin to use sound to attack, and to have chakra-enhanced hearing. It would make sneaking up on them more difficult, but conversely make them more sensitive to loud noises.

That kid’s arm, though, would be hard to defend against. Well, it would be for someone who hadn’t created sound barrier seals. Naruto searched through his pouch, frowning at how disorganized he was becoming. Maybe he could design a compartmentalized storage scroll

Naruto grinned as a series of explosions rocked the forest. 

“Good morning, everyone.”

“Meow.”

Shikamaru looked down at the brown tabby cat. She placed a paw on his leg, then sank her claws in, tugging slightly. He frowned at Tora. It wasn’t the best timing. They had stumbled upon Hyuuga Neji, and while Shikamaru was reasonably confident his team could take him down, he didn’t particularly want to. Nor did he want to deal with Team Gai's weapons expert Tenten or their taijutsu specialist Rock Lee. The Byakugan was a nightmare to deal with for a team like Shikamaru’s, and the Akimichi taijutsu was a poor match for Juuken, the Gentle Fist. 

“Come out from there,” Neji said. 

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “No thanks.”

“Shikamaru!” Ino hissed. Choji was shuddering on her other side. Tora kept tugging on his pant leg. 

“We were just leaving,” Shikamaru said, standing up. Neji was looking disdainfully at them, and for a moment Shikamaru entertained the thought of fighting the other boy. Maybe Neji would develop a modicum of humility if someone inferior to him won in a fight. But, as it was, it was too much effort, and Tora had started biting him. 

“Lead the way,” Shikamaru said to her, turning from Neji. 

Tora darted through the underbrush, and Shikamaru ran after her. After a moment, Ino and Choji followed.

“Where are we going?” Ino asked, running alongside him. Tora jumped into a tree, much higher than any normal cat should be able to jump. 

Shikamaru shrugged, then stumbled when something exploded in the distance. 

“I think she found Naruto,” Shikamaru said, smiling faintly to himself. 

“That loser?” Ino asked. “Why aren't we going to the tower? I mean, I wouldn’t mind seeing Sasuke…”

“Ino,” Choji started. 

Shikamaru ignored them both, following Tora as she jumped down behind a fallen tree. Ino gasped. 

A ring of bare ground had been violently cleared. Dirt and grass had been ripped out. Trees had been blown outward in an arc, leaves burning and bark scorched. Pungent smoke drifted lazily into the air, and Shikamaru covered his mouth, wary of what kind of plants were burning. 

“Sasuke-kun,” Ino whispered. 

Shikamaru could just make Sasuke out. He was laid out on the ground, a flickering red barrier of some kind surrounding him. There was something happening to Sasuke in the barrier, but it was partially blocked by Sakura, who was crouched in front of Sasuke with a kunai in her hand. In front of her Rock Lee had fallen on the ground, and it looked like blood was leaking from his ears. 

Three Oto-nin were facing Sakura. The explosions had blown away most of the tree cover, and dawn was just breaking. 

“Where the hell is Naruto?” Shikamaru muttered, looking around. 

“Yo.”

Shikamaru slapped his hand over Ino’s mouth, and Choji was thankfully too startled to make a sound. 

“What’s going on?” Shikamaru asked Naruto, who crouched next to him to pet Tora. 

“Not much,” Naruto said. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the state of his team. “Sakura was supposed to be in the barrier too. It was a failsafe. I’ll have to see what I did wrong.”

Naruto pulled out a tag. “I’m not going to be able to hear anything for a bit. I’ll go after the one with the straw coat. He’s the leader. I'll leave it to you three to subdue the others. I'll send in clones first."

"Got it," Shikamaru said. "What is the goal?"

"What?" Ino hissed. "Are you seriously taking orders from Naruto?"

"Capture," Naruto said. 

Shikamaru nodded. Naruto made three clones, who scattered along with the original.

"Shikamaru!"

"Shut up, Ino," he said. "Just watch. Then you can tell me how much of a loser Naruto is."

Ino pulled back, shocked by his tone. Choji was silent, watching him with knowing eyes before turning back to the clearing.

Kunai and shuriken flew out of the trees, slamming into the ground between the two Oto-nin standing back. The boy and girl jumped apart, and Shikamaru ran towards the boy, who was closer, keeping cover behind bushes and fallen trees. He could hear Ino and Choji following him, making too much noise. Then the weapons exploded. The leader turned around, his strange metal arm raised as he scanned the area for threats. The other boy had his arms held out, twisting them in some uncanny way. Shikamaru knelt down, hands moving through signs. His shadow lashed out and captured the closest boy.

“Ino, switch! Bring him over here.”

“Shintenshin no jutsu!”

Ino slumped to the side. Shikamaru released his shadow and caught her. The possessed Oto-nin hopped into the bushes with them. 

“Zaku! Kin!”

“Choji, tie him up.”

Shikamaru looked back to the clearing just as two Naruto clones were dragging the now unconscious girl away. More kunai flew out of the trees, and the remaining Oto-nin jumped back, deflecting some with his metal arm. Sakura was dragging Lee’s body out of the line of fire, the two of them forgotten.

Then Naruto was sprinting out of the trees, running at the increasingly frantic boy. His katana was drawn, the blade humming with blindingly blue chakra. 

The Oto-nin raised his arm to block Naruto’s strike, his first and last mistake. The katana cut through the arm like butter, and the Oto-nin shrieked in pain and horror. His severed arm fell to the ground with a oddly echoing thud. The boy narrowly dodged Naruto’s next strike, not noticing a second Naruto flying at him from the trees with a tag fluttering in his hand. The clone Naruto—or possibly the real one, it was hard to tell—slapped the tag onto the boy’s head, and he fell to the ground. The Naruto with the sword vanished in a puff of smoke. The real Naruto turned to where Shikamaru was, mouth moving but no sound coming out. 

Ino was waking back up, shaking off the effect of her jutsu. The boy they had captured was bound and gagged, struggling against the rope Choji had tied around him. Naruto had pulled out another tag, which flared with chakra briefly before he pocketed it again.

“You guys good?” he called out.

“Clear,” Shikamaru called back. “Come on.”

He jumped into the clearing, looking around to see if their brief altercation had drawn any unwelcome attention. The girl was being carried out of the trees by shadow clones, tied up, and Naruto was busy restraining the last of the Oto-nin. 

“Sakura,” Naruto said when he was finished. “See what you can do for Lee.”

Sakura nodded, forming signs. Her hands began to glow green as she held them over Lee’s prone body. “Lee-san used some high-level taijutsu technique. There is some tearing in his muscles. And that boy,” she said, looking at the Oto team’s leader, “used a sound technique. It damaged Lee-san’s ears and disoriented him. He should be fine healing on his own. I’m not confident I can heal something this delicate. I don’t know the anatomy well enough.”

Naruto nodded, looking over at Sasuke, who was struggling to sit up. Shikamaru noticed Naruto tucking something away in his pouch, likely the Oto team’s scroll.

“Naruto? Sakura?” Sasuke said, gripping his neck. It was hard to tell through the barrier, but it looked like smoke was coming from between his fingers. “What the hell is going on?”

“I’d also like an answer to that, too.”

Shikamaru frowned, looking up to see Neji and his teammate Tenten standing on a branch, both glaring at Sakura.

“What are you doing to our teammate?” Neji demanded.

“Healing him,” Sakura said shortly, turning away. “He showed up and defended me against those three.”

Naruto left Sakura and Shikamaru to deal with Team Gai, turning his attention to Sasuke. 

“Naruto, what is this thing?” Sasuke asked once Naruto was next to him. 

“A barrier to protect you while you were unconscious,” he said, using a kunai to stab the tag hidden in the ground. The barrier flickered, then dispersed. “A really simple one. It would have taken a few good hits.”

“What happened after—”

“We’ll talk later,” Naruto said, cutting him off. 

Sasuke’s eyes flicked across the other teams gathered, and he nodded. Naruto scrutinized the abnormal wound he had, and saw that somehow the seal, or whatever it was, had spiraled out and expanded. Black, flame-like marks had begun creeping up Sasuke’s neck, and Sasuke’s chakra was fluctuating. There was something subtly malevolent about the thing on Sasuke. Naruto was worried the chakra suppressant seal he had hastily applied wouldn’t be enough to hold it back. Not only that, but it disadvantaged Sasuke to not have any access to his chakra.

Naruto moved closer and whispered, “Don’t use any chakra right now, you’re still recovering.”

Sasuke nodded again, sitting up fully. 

“I’ll take him from here.”

Naruto looked over to see Tenten grabbing Lee and shaking him around, Sakura watching in shock. 

“What are you doing?” Sakura demanded. “He’s injured!”

“He’s fine,” Tenten said dismissively, slapping Lee across the face. 

“Stop fooling around,” Neji said, landing next to them. “Let’s go.”

Lee blinked, looked around muzzily, then yelped. Tenten seized his arm and leapt into the trees, following Neji. 

“Rude,” Ino said, flicking her hair. 

“We should go too,” Shikamaru said, nudging the Oto-nin’s severed arm. 

It was bizarre. Naruto had no idea how part of the boy’s arm had been replaced by a hollow metal thing while still being functional. The other boy had what looked like pipes in his arms instead of bones. The Oto-nin were more like medical experiments than ninja. 

“We should travel together,” Naruto said. “We need to turn these three in.”

“Why?” Ino demanded. “Turn them in to who? What’s going on? What happened to Sasuke-kun?”

Naruto ignored her, walking over to the arm-pipe boy and slapping a seal on him. He passed out, his chakra locked away. Naruto made a few clones to pick up the Oto-nin. They transformed to look like members of Team 8, since Naruto knew them best of the other Konoha genin.

“So,” Naruto said. “Who wants to lead?”

Reaching the tower had been easier than expected. There were traps, of course, and a wide-area genjutsu they had to skirt, but no one wanted to mess with a group of what appeared to be three teams banded together. 

After their chuunin had appeared and given them a little speech about what it meant to be a chuunin, Shikamaru and his teammates found rooms near the other Konoha rookies. Team 8—Hinata, Kiba, and Shino—had already arrived. The Suna trio were also around, on a different floor. According to Team 8, the Suna-nin were the first to reach the tower. 

Shikamaru walked into the cafeteria, on a mission to get food for his team. He found Naruto glaring at a tray of onigiri. Tora was sitting on the table, eating a piece of grilled fish.

“It’s tuna,” Naruto said miserably, poking at the offending food. “They told me they’re serving tomato curry for dinner. I feel like I’m being punished.”

Shikamaru made a sign for silence, watching as Naruto reached a hand into his pocket. When the tag was activated, he yawned to pop his ears. 

“Choji’s still mad at me for taking all of his chips,” Shikamaru said. “So, what happened before we found your team?”

Shikamaru listened as Naruto explained the fight with Orochimaru, Orochimaru wearing the skin of a Kusa kunoichi, Sasuke being bitten by Orochimaru and injected with something, Orochimaru’s cryptic words, and finally being attacked by the Oto team.

“I gave them over to Iruka-sensei,” Naruto explained, picking up an onigiri. “I told him to get ANBU. He looked like he didn’t know what to do. And then the exam proctor, that Anko lady, showed up with some ANBU and took them away. She gave Sasuke a weird look before they left. I think she saw that mark.”

“How’s Sasuke?” he asked. That Naruto had fought Orochimaru, arguably the most dangerous of the Sannin if only for being a missing-nin, was insane. That his team survived the encounter bordered on miraculous. Based on the so-called present Orochimaru had given Sasuke, it was likely Orochimaru had some motive for letting them all live. Walking into the Chuunin Exam and attacking three genin, marking one who carried an almost extinct kekkei genkai…what was the purpose behind it?

“He’s stable, I think,” Naruto said. “I haven’t had much time to try healing fuinjutsu, and I don’t want to test things out on Sasuke. Sakura has barely begun her own medical training. We’re doing the best we can. Since this phase of the exam isn’t over, we can’t get outside help. It’s bullshit.”

Shikamaru tapped his fingers idly. He didn't understand why they were being kept in the tower for the remainder of the second exam. Unless there was something happening right after it ended. The third stage was always a tournament. Were they expected to fight one-on-one battles right after going through the Forest of Death? He knew there was usually a big audience, but they hadn't seen any activity around the stadium. The proctors wouldn't even know the matches to advertise, and it took civilians a while to make it to Konoha. They would need a few weeks if there were any from Lightning or Water. 

At most eleven teams could make it to the tower. That would be thirty-three genin, thirty-two matches. Way too many for a one day tournament.

Shikamaru sighed. There were going to be preliminary matches.

"Why do you think Orochimaru wants Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto snorted. 

"Why else?" he said bitterly. "He's an Uchiha."

Naruto woke up in the middle of the night with a dog on his chest. 

“Yo.”

“What?”

Naruto sat up, dislodging the dog. The dog was a small pug with floppy ears, a little blue coat, and a Konoha hitai-ate tied like a bonnet. There was a scroll in the dog’s mouth. 

Tora had fallen asleep at the foot of his bed, but Naruto didn’t see her. He could hear Sakura and Sasuke steadily breathing from their beds—they hadn’t wanted to stay in separate rooms—and the seal he had put over the door was still there. He looked over to the seal on the window and saw it had been removed. Tora jumped on his bed, the seal in question dangling from her mouth.

“Who are you?” Naruto asked the dog.

“Pakkun,” the dog said, his deep voice muffled by the scroll. Pakkun dropped it onto Naruto’s lap. 

“What’s this?”

“It’s from Kakashi,” Pakkun said. “He can’t come here himself, not yet. He said to do it as soon as possible, it will take a few days for him to recover.”

“Do what as soon as possible?” Naruto asked, but Pakkun was already jumping off of his bed and out of the window. Tora jumped onto the window sill and settled down.

Confused, Naruto opened the scroll. It was a standard storage scroll, and when Naruto pressed his hand to the seal another scroll popped out, along with a small bottle and a note.

The scroll has the instructions for the fuja hoin. It will seal the curse mark. Use the food pill if he doesn’t wake up in time for the fights.

“Evil sealing,” Naruto muttered, opening the next scroll. His eyes bugged out at the complexity of the seal. It was a massive design, and had to be drawn entirely in blood. And there were nineteen hand signs he’d have to memorize. 

“Tora,” Naruto said, getting the cat’s attention. “Can you find a big, empty room?”

“Meow.”

Tora had continued to impress by being able to gather chakra in her paws. It enabled her to scale the side of the building, which she did. Naruto suspected she was getting lessons from the Nara deer. It was only a matter of time until she started breathing fire or something.

I can’t keep chakra suppressants on Sasuke forever, Naruto said to Kurama. 

Better start practicing those signs, Kurama said. 

Naruto sighed. U, mi, uma…

The room Tora had found was through a corridor leading out of a small stadium on the bottom floor of the tower. It led down into a basement, where machines stood silent and curtains had been hung in a makeshift infirmary. 

“Weird that no one is here,” Naruto said, looking around. 

“Are you sure we should be here?” Sakura asked.

It was the middle of the night again, and Sakura had insisted on coming to act as lookout. 

“Who cares,” Sasuke said, putting a hand on his neck. “I just want to get rid of this thing. It feels…”

Sasuke stopped talking, and neither Naruto nor Sakura pushed him to finish. Naruto knew Sasuke had been having nightmares. He had been mumbling in his sleep, sometimes crying out in pain. Naruto couldn’t imagine what that curse mark was doing to him, what kind of horrible memories it was bringing up. He had spent all day studying the fuja hoin, commiting the hand sign sequence to memory, practicing it until it felt fluid. He would have liked more time, but there were only two days until the second exam was over. 

Tora stopped in front of a door. Naruto opened it, revealing a large and empty chamber with inscribed circles carved into the floor. Kakashi’s note suggested placing kunai as points of reference, so Naruto did, embedding them in the floor in even intervals. There was a deadened feeling about the room, and Naruto hoped it would conceal the chakra he was about to release while sealing Sasuke’s curse mark. 

“You have to take off your shirt,” Naruto said, checking the placement of the kunai. “Sit down in the center. This is going to take a while.”

Sasuke frowned, but did so. “What is this seal supposed to do?”

“Kakashi-sensei says that when you use chakra, it activates the curse mark and forcibly draws in natural energy,” Naruto said. “The seal will isolate the mark from your chakra system. It’s based on intent, so you have to not want to use whatever the fuck that curse mark is. I’m not sure exactly what will happen if you do, since Sakura got out some of whatever you were injected with, and I suppressed your chakra right away. Using natural energy can be deadly, so I would suggest not circumventing the seal.”

“It wasn’t my choice to get this,” Sasuke snapped, leaning back on his hands. 

“I know,” Naruto said, walking up to him. “I’m sorry.”

Sasuke clenched his hands. “I was too weak.”

Naruto snorted, cutting his hand open. He made a fist, then let the blood trickle down his fingers. “Orochimaru was taught by Sandaime. He has decades of experience. Our chakra systems aren’t even fully developed, and won’t be for years. And anyway, being a shinobi isn’t just about raw power. It’s outsmarting the enemy. It’s setting things up so you can win.”

He began writing fuinjutsu shiki around the curse mark. His blood was sticky and hard to write with, so Naruto went slowly. It had to be perfect. 

“I beat the Hokage with a henge,” Naruto said, cutting his hand again. He had to regularly reopen the cut, one of the few times his rapid healing was an inconvenience. 

“Bullshit,” Sasuke said, shivering. 

Naruto pulled his hand back and waited for him to settle down. “I did! I broke into his office when I was nine and transformed into a naked woman. He passed out.”

“Should you be telling me something like that?” Sasuke asked, smirking. 

“Like the old man would admit it,” Naruto said, finishing the first line of shiki. He had eight more to go. “I exploited a weakness of his. I think that’s what—”

Naruto cut himself off. Orochimaru had said Sasuke would seek him out for power. He didn’t know what exactly Orochimaru had promised Sasuke, but Naruto knew Sasuke was obsessed with killing his brother, and had been for years. Maybe so obsessed he didn’t care how he did it.

“What?” Sasuke said. 

Naruto hesitated. “I think that’s what Orochimaru is trying to do. Trying to lure you with the promise of power. It’s stupid. What can he offer that Konoha doesn’t? He’s from Konoha! This was where he became powerful. And…other people. Is making you powerful like what he did to those Oto kids? Sticking metal tubes in your arms? Turning you into a one-trick pony?”

They were silent as Naruto finished up with the seal. Sasuke kept his eyes fixed on the floor. 

“I’m done,” Naruto said, cutting his hand yet again. He needed fresh blood to draw in the shiki. “This is going to hurt.”

“Just get it over with,” Sasuke said.

Naruto moved behind him, hands forming the signs. Kurama was paying attention now, pushing more of his chakra through Naruto’s own seal. Naruto ripped off the chakra suppressant tag on the back of Sasuke’s neck.

“Fuja hoin!”

Naruto slammed his palm over the curse mark, squinting his eyes as chakra blazed through the symbols he had drawn in his own blood. Sasuke started screaming, and Naruto hoped Sakura couldn’t hear through the door. If she did, she had the sense not to come bursting in and interrupting them. 

The shiki flowed towards Sasuke’s neck, settling into the design that ringed the curse mark. When it was finally finished, Sasuke fell forward, catching himself with his hands. 

“How do you feel?” Naruto asked, kneeling next to him. 

Sasuke replied by passing out.