Reise zu Reinkarnation

VI.

Naruto waited patiently in his little corner of the cell, dressed in his ANBU whites and holding his mask. It was shaped into the likeness of a fox, a dig against the biju his body sheltered. But it was more than that, as he’d have earned this particular mask regardless whether he’d been Kyuubi’s jinchuuriki or not. The first lesson he’d gotten from Ibiki about the ANBU was that the mask given to them was based on their skills, the skills they showed and used during the test. Those skills were then equated to an animal and the mask was made, custom to its eventual owner. Kakashi’s mask waited years for him to obtain it, and now it hung on Iruka-sensei’s wall. When it disappeared, Iruka knew Kakashi was away and when it reappeared, Kakashi was back. It was an ingenious little system. There were three others in this cell with him, each chosen in respect to the person undertaking the ANBU test. Should their counterpart reach the middle of the maze, they would go out in full gear, face covered by their mask, and fight. A killing blow was needed – but no blood would be drawn thanks to the blunted, padded weapons they were going to wield – to finish the fight. If the initiate scored the first blow, he or she passed and was evaluated by the eldest ANBU but if the opponent, the marked ANBU scored first, the initiate failed and would take the test over in a year. The cell door opened and the occupants looked up at Kotetsu and Izumo.

“Shironue Takako,” Kotetsu began, “you’re no longer needed.”

“Hirofumi Keita,” Izumo said, “you’re no longer needed.”

The woman and man looked at each other and sighed almost happily, getting to their feet and following Kotetsu and Izumo away from the cell. Naruto looked over at the remaining male, watching him fidget with his mask. To be called away meant that your counterpart had failed and you were free to leave. Being left behind made the prospect of your counterpart being the sole survivor very likely indeed. And probably being stuck in the same room as your Hokage wasn’t doing good things to your heart. Naruto fought back his smile and closed his eyes. To fight Sasuke, he’d need every bit of strength and chakra as well as trickery. He knew Sasuke’s style; after all, he’d cheated by getting Sasuke to spar with him for the exact purpose of learning how Sasuke fought. If he knew his opponent’s weakness, it would be easy to exploit them, especially in battle. The hardest part about that tactic was that now Sasuke knew Naruto’s style of close combat and Naruto needed to keep his identity a secret from Sasuke. If Sasuke knew he was fighting the man he was supposed to protect, Naruto wasn’t sure what would happen. Sasuke might freak out, or he’d figure out the test, or, or, or. There were too many possibilities to consider. Naruto had to play this by sight and see how it went. He’d make it up to Sasuke somehow. Maybe he wouldn’t do anything stupid the first official week Sasuke’s bodyguarding duties began. His mind drifted to the letter he’d received from Tsunade.

She had told him to get Sakura to administer a simple psych evaluation – which he had done and Sakura had found nothing wrong with Sasuke – and she and Jiraya would be by in a few weeks. They were due to arrive three weeks from now, according to Sakura. If he could convince Sasuke to talk to Tsunade, maybe she could figure out why Sasuke was so… un-Sasuke. The door opened again and Naruto was soon alone. He took a deep breath and stood up, tying his mask over his face.

It was time to face his destiny and see if he could beat Sasuke in close combat.

Last time had been a draw, after all.


Sasuke stood in the dark with his eyes closed and listened. He’d made it through the test with almost no scratches and he’d found himself alone in a dark room. He could hear faint noises, and discerned a few were voices. He heard a hatch open and all went silent. Sasuke kept his eyes closed as the lights came on, letting them adjust behind his eyelids. It was easier that way, because your eyes weren’t forced into shock at the sudden light change. He slowly opened his eyes, ready for action instead of being a sitting duck for the few seconds of eye adjustment. The sight that greeted him was something he wasn’t really prepared for, so his mind stuttered to a halt as he stared at the masked ANBU before him. Itachi had said the final test pitted you against a friend, not a masked ANBU. Sasuke pushed aside the anxiety. He couldn’t mess up, not here, because he was going to be Naruto’s bodyguard. He needed to win. Sasuke set his stance and waited. The ANBU cocked his arm and threw a kunai at Sasuke’s feet; the weapon dug into the floor about an inch away from Sasuke’s open toes. Sasuke never flinched; instead he slowly bent down from the knees, never taking his eyes off his opponent. If the ANBU was waiting for some clue, Sasuke never gave it, wrapping his fingers around the hilt of the kunai and rising again. The air was pressing down on his skin, his ears were ringing with the silence, and his opponent’s heartbeat. Sasuke feinted to the left, watching the ANBU follow him. At the last second, Sasuke changed direction, left foot crossing over his right and twisting at the ankle to send his body to the left, past the ANBU, behind him. Uchiha was laughing and Sasuke went in for the killing blow.

Blunted metal met and sparked, a shower of a thousand tiny stars falling over them a split second before they broke apart. Sasuke fell back, regained his footing and charged again, hearing metal strike metal again and again. It was a horrible, beautiful symphony of metal, a dance of bodies so well-trained it was hard to imagine this was a test and one future balanced so precariously on the outcome. Naruto was panting, his breath coming in short bursts as Sasuke came at him again and again, fully intent on killing. Naruto blocked and parried, fighting for his very life. He knew he wouldn’t die, but he could get hurt. His arms were aching from the repeated impacts against Sasuke’s kunai and his legs were starting to feel like jelly. Much longer, and Sasuke would win by default. Naruto wasn’t without his own little victories. Sasuke too was panting and his vicious speed had dropped down to normal, allowing Naruto to keep up, even plan ahead to make a move Sasuke wasn’t expecting. Naruto lunged at Sasuke, ended up diving between his legs as Sasuke leaped up and over him, somersaulting and landing behind him. Naruto whirled and brought his kunai up to defend from a downward slash, only to get a fist to the chest instead. Sasuke bore him down with another quick jab to his gut and when Naruto was on his knees, Sasuke kicked him in the face, right under his chin. Naruto fell back, head spinning, and lay there dazed. He lost. He’d sorely underestimated Sasuke’s abilities. Who would’ve thought to duck under a feinted chop with a kunai to attack other exposed areas anyway? There was a sudden weight on his chest, a knee on his sternum. Then there was a prick against his pulse.

Oh, shit.

He moved fast to pull off his ANBU mask, blue staring wide-eyed up at narrowed coal, watched Sasuke’s eyes grow wide, wider still as he froze, staring down at Naruto, almost frightened. Stiffly, Sasuke drew back, swallowed and stood up, looking to the side and letting his weapon drop to the floor. Naruto pulled himself to his feet and smiled at the brunette who refused to stare at him. Naruto reached out and placed his hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, finally getting him to glance over. Naruto smiled gently.

“You did it, Sasuke. You passed.”

Sasuke frowned. “I nearly killed you.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Doesn’t matter. Won’t matter. Not to them. They’ll say I failed.”

Naruto shook his head, but even he wasn’t sure. Yeah, Sasuke had almost killed him, but he hadn’t. It hadn’t been Sasuke’s fault he hadn’t realized who he was fighting until that final moment. If the ANBU proctors failed Sasuke for that innocent transgression, then what was the point of having Naruto fight him?

“They won’t fail you,” Naruto said. “It was an honest mistake,”

Sasuke’s gaze told him that Naruto didn’t quite get it. Doubt bubbled up in Naruto’s heart, giving birth to horrible thoughts. Was Sasuke talking about the proctors of the test or was he talking about Orochimaru? Orochimaru would certainly say Sasuke had failed and so would Kabuto. Which led him to the thought that all of this was just a clever ploy dreamt up by Orochimaru. After all, who wouldn’t trust Sasuke after he was so well behaved? Naruto shook his head. He couldn’t afford to think like that, not yet. Sasuke hadn’t done anything to warrant those kind of thoughts. Naruto’s hand dropped from Sasuke’s shoulder to his wrist and Sasuke took the opportunity to clutch to Naruto’s hand. They stared at each other for a long while before Naruto turned to lead Sasuke out of the small arena. Sasuke followed silently. Naruto couldn’t help but wonder if Sasuke was quietly planning a coup, like his predecessor. The Rokudaime shivered.

Damn Jounin paranoia.