Genjutsu

Fear is an emotion that should be erased from the system of a ninja. One should not feel it, or tremble in front of it. One must face it to overcome it, not to be shadowed by it. But the problem is, ninjas are still humans, therefore, these emotions, especially fear, will eventually find its way back into the human’s heart and brain. And so, that is what’s currently running through the blood of each ninja who was in the way of two, clearly pissed off, students of Konoha…

Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura…

“Aww man, they’re at it again…” a Chuunin said, scurrying away to avoid the two seething ninjas. One was verbally abusing the other, who remained silent and indifferent to what the other was accusing him of.

“Will you listen to me?!” Sakura demanded, grabbing his collar and pulling him down. Curse his damn height and her small figure. “I’m talking here and you’re purposely ignoring me!”

He scoffed and pulled her wrists away. “You’re giving me a good reason to.” He shot back coolly, pocketing his hands and making his way to class, his pink-haired partner stomping after him, rushing to block his path, so he had no choice but to stop, less he wants to walk over her. Hmm… that may not be a bad idea.

“That’s it Uchiha. You’re really getting on my nerves!”

“And you think you’re not getting on mine?”

“Ugh! You’re impossible! You’re annoying! You’re – you’re-”

He gave a smug smirk and a raised brow, knowing very well that it pisses her off when he does that. “I’m what?”

She turned red and pulled onto her long hair, yelling profanities as she turned and stomped her way to class, cursing her ANBU partner who stood there, watching her, the smirk still on his lips as he decided to walk to class as well.

Uchiha – 1

Haruno – 0

Chapter 6: Lovebirds

This was lovely. Two of his students were fighting.

Correction.

One was yelling her head off, the other seemed to retort calmly.

Yeah. That’s a better way to describe the argument.

“Sensei…”

“Hm?” he turned to see Hinata raising her hand, eyeing the two who were still having a battle. “Yes Hinata?”

“This could get out of hand.”

“Oh, don’t worry. They’ll eventually grow tired.”

Boy, how wrong he was. Apparently, Sasuke just said something that pissed Sakura further, leading her to stand up and give another insult, which, from the looks of it, damaged Sasuke’s pride, which also led to him getting up from his seat and return another comeback.

“Sensei…”

Kakashi looked up from his book to see Naruto shakily raise a hand; head turned towards Sasuke and Sakura who were standing and glaring at each other, at the same time, throwing insults back and forth, the whole class watching. “Yes Naruto?”

“Aren’t you going to stop them or at least, tell them to break it up?”

He eyed Naruto then at the couple who fought like old married couples. “Nah. We can’t get in the way of lovebirds Naruto.” The noise stopped as Sasuke and Sakura’s head lowered at what Kakashi said, slowly turning to him with bangs shadowing their eyes, the whole class silent and awaiting what was to happen next. “You see,” Kakashi continued. “If you tear the lovebirds apart, the one left would die in misery.” He grinned behind his mask and simply caught and avoided the kunai and shuriken thrown at him by the ANBU and Jounin.

“What did you say you freakin’ pervert?!” Sakura yelled. Apparently, respect was thrown out the window.

Kakashi gave another smile behind his mask. “Oh, let me rephrase that.” He said. “You’ll both die when torn apart.”

“That’s it!” Sakura used her desk as leverage and attacked Kakashi who merely ducked to avoid getting hit. “Now, now Sakura, a ninja must not let emotions overcome him, or in your case,” he chuckled. “Don’t take your anger out on me just because you and Sasuke over there had a lover’s spat.”

“Why you-”

Her punch was blocked. “Everyone outside.” Kakashi said, still reading his book. “You too, Sakura.”

He eyed each and every one of his students before deciding to announce what was going to happen. “This is another test of teamwork. But this time, instead of the usual two on two or one on one, we’re going for ten against two.”

Everyone stared at Kakashi.

“I’ll be picking five pairs, afterwards, ask for another pair to fight against the ten people. It’s a test to see how you and your partner can fend off with many enemies, whether from your level or higher.” He took a clipboard. “And like I said,” he turned to eye Sasuke and Sakura. “You’ll both die when torn apart.”

“Neji and Tenten, Lee and Karin, Shikamaru and Temari, Sai and Ino, and lastly, Naruto and Hinata..!” He finished calling the five pairs who stood up. Last time, Sai was absent and Temari had to go back to Suna with her brothers for an emergency. But now that they were both here, they can be paired up with their respective partners. “And our lucky pair will be…” he pretended to close his eyes and circle his pen around the clipboard. When he stopped, he smiled and eyed Sasuke and Sakura, who both got the meaning.

“What a coincidence. We get to see Sasuke and Sakura battle against ten people.” Of course, he didn’t bother to say that he did that on purpose.

The two sighed and got up, meeting each other’s glares first before heading up front.

Kakashi took this as his time to whisper to Neji: “Force them apart.” The male Hyuuga nodded but had questioning eyes. Kakashi smiled behind the mask he wore. “I’d like to teach them a lesson on what I said earlier.” And he turned to the rest. “Rules stay the same. Fight to the finish! And no, I didn’t mean kill each other.” He stopped and turned to a new arrival. “Oh, and, This is a cross of Taijutsu class as well.”

The students turned to see Gai with a grin. “In other words, no ninjutsu or genjutsu is allowed. Fight on taijutsu alone.” He eyed Sasuke, Neji and Hinata, as well as Sakura. “For you three, the sharingan and byaakugan can be allowed, and for Sakura, her super strength can be considered as taijutsu.”

And he told the ninjas to begin.

Neji, as instructed, forced the pair apart by taking on Sasuke first after activating his byaakugan. Sakura got held back by Ino, who got the message that they should separate the two. Sai, Karin, Shikamaru, Ino and Temari took on Sakura, while Lee, Naruto, Hinata and Tenten assisted Neji in handling the Uchiha.

“Shit.” Sasuke cursed, evading Neji and Hinata’s attempts to close his chakra points. If he lets them, he won’t be able to use his sharingan, which would be a disadvantage against the two Hyuugas. “They’re pretty fast too.” He tried to come up with an idea to get them both off of his back, and when an idea clicked in his head when he realized that the two were running towards him, he smirked. “Bingo.” Seeing as he was in the middle of the two, he waited for the right time before jumping, his smirk growing when he saw Neji hit Hinata and vice versa. “Heh. Goodbye byaakugan.”

He followed it up by tossing a few string bound kunai at the two to bind them both together.

“Got you.”

He was forced to let go when Naruto had charged at him from behind with a Rasengan.

“What the-” in a flash, Kakashi had intercepted by grabbing Naruto’s wrist and tossing him aside. “You’re out, Naruto.”

“What?! WHY?!”

Gai sighed. “You used a ninjutsu when I specifically said that only taijutsu is allowed! Weapons are not prohibited though.”

“Now you tell me.” Tenten said, before charging at Sasuke with the weapons she summoned from her scroll.

“Ah shit.” Sasuke dodged the upcoming assault, instantly sprinting away when Lee tried to kick him, hitting the ground instead. “Crap. That crater would’ve been me.” He thought, studying his enemies. “They’re pretty tough alright, and it’ll be hard to win against them all. Though I’ve gotten a bit of advantage after getting rid of the byaakugan, so it wouldn’t be as hard as it should’ve been when sneaking up on the two Hyuugas, but…” he eyed Lee. “He’s going to be a problem, he’s pretty fast too, and strong. If I’m not careful, I’ll surely lose.” He turned to Tenten. “And she may not be much of a threat at first, but her weapons are deadly. Some are even coated with poison.” he clicked his tongue. “To top it off, ninjutsu and genjutsu aren’t allowed. So I have to rely on my speed, counterattacks, combos and sharingan.”

“What’s the matter, Uchiha? Cold feet?” Lee taunted.

“Hn. As if.” He shot back. “I just need to turn their own attack against them. But… how?”

Meanwhile, Sakura wasn’t having a great time on her own either. She was just glad that Sai and Temari can’t use their special attacks, but it still didn’t mean they don’t know taijutsu. They were pretty good. What made it hard to fight Temari was her huge fan. Because even if she didn’t need ninjutsu, she can still control the wind by waving her fan, and it was legal in this battle.

“I wonder how I can get out of this..?” she thought, ignoring how Karin had groaned from behind. Somehow, Sakura managed to knock her out by slamming her against a tree after a hard and chakra-filled punch. Ino was hard to beat earlier, since she was pretty good at taijutsu too, but she managed to knock out the blonde. Shikamaru seemed to just assist, and barely moved a muscle, so it was Sai and Temari who troubled her.

“And as much as I’d hate to say it,” she glanced at Sasuke who was currently being engaged in a battle with Lee. “He has it harder. Neji and Hinata may have been rendered from using byaakugan, and I admit, it was genius of him when he jumped away, but they could still give a good fight.” She bit her lower lip. “Lee is a tough taijutsu ninja, he’s Gai-sensei’s apprentice, and his speed can match Sasuke’s. Plus Tenten’s unlimited supply of weapons could really give him a hard time and…” she lowered her head a bit. “I’m worried about him…”

She shook her head. “No, Sasuke is an ANBU level. He can stand his ground, I’m sure.” She took a deep breathe in. “Yeah, I believe he can do it. Now, I just need to focus and win this fight. Besides,” she smirked. “I’m not going to let him believe I’m weak, I need to prove him wrong.” She rushed, head on at Temari who braced herself, using her folded fan to shield the kick Sakura sent, but was shocked when Sakura used that as a leverage and catapult to shoot herself towards Sai, punching the guy square in the face, which sent him flying almost a hundred feet away, his back crashing into a tree.

“Damn.” Shikamaru cursed, eyes widening when he didn’t know Sakura had this kind of speed in her. She gave a roundhouse kick, also sending Shikamaru flying to where Sai was, landing on Sai at that. “One more.” She said to herself, turning to Temari who gave a haughty smirk. “Alright, so you kick ass, about time I get a decent fight.”

Sakura grinned. “I’d gladly give you a memorable one, a fight that you can share when you go back to Suna, a fight in which you will lose.”

“Hmph. Too haughty.” Temari snapped, charging to attack the girl who dodged and sent a powerful punch to the ground, causing some rocks to fly. Temari cursed and jumped away, trying to locate Sakura despite all the dust and rocks flying to block her vision.

“Too slow!” She yelled, kicking Temari from behind which caused the blonde to fall on the ground. Without giving the Suna student a chance to recover, Sakura gave a chakra-filled punch on the ground, right next to Temari’s head to scare her a bit. She smirked when she saw how the blonde’s eyes were wide from shock. “Say goodnight!” she said with a grin before hitting a pressure point on her neck, temporarily making Temari unconscious. “Heh. Victory.” She turned to see Sasuke already got rid of the Hyuugas after copying their taijutsu.

And since weapons were allowed, the senbon needles he threw at the two Hyuugas had punctured right through the neck, immobilizing them both. He only had Lee and Tenten left to worry about, since Naruto was already out from the beginning.

“Aw man, Lee…” she murmured, rushing towards the two men’s fight.

“Is this all the ANBU from Oto can do against a Konoha Jounin?!” Lee yelled with such intensity that made Gai proud.

“No Lee!”

Sasuke stopped himself from delivering the kick he was about to send at the same time Lee almost wasn’t able to prevent a bone-cracking punch.

“Tch. Damn it Sakura! You could’ve been hurt!”

Kakashi’s ears moved a bit when he detected the tone of Sasuke’s voice. It sounded worried and very concerned.

“Lee,” Sakura began, glaring at the teen who suddenly felt goose bumps. “Do you dare to hurt me?”

“I… no fair Sakura! It is your partner whom I wish to fight! Never in my life have I dreamed to hurt you! I have vowed to protect you with my life and that is true..! And I-”

He went on, and on…

Sasuke just sweat dropped and slowly placed his foot down, turning to Sakura who sighed and placed a hand on her head. Now he got what she was planning. She was taking advantage of Lee’s “undying love” for her.

“No Lee! You must fight!” Gai yelled. “You’re so close to victory!”

“But Gai-sensei! It is Sakura in front of me! I do not wish to harm her at all!”

“Listen to me Lee! She can only accept your love if you defeat her and show her how worthy you truly are!”

“…Oh shit.” Sakura cursed when Lee’s eyes shone with such fiery intent and directed them to Sakura. “For you to accept my feelings, I will defeat you! Please find it in your heart to forgive me if ever I will hurt you badly!” and he started to deliver fast punches and kicks that Sakura found difficult to avoid.

“Darn it! I had a hard time facing Sasuke back then, now I have to face Lee?”

“Tch.” Sasuke quickly pulled Sakura out of the way and blocked a kick meant to hit her head. “I can take care of myself Uchiha!”

“Hn, I know.” He muttered, not in the mood for another argument. “But I’d feel better knowing you’re safer.”

“I am not a little girl!”

“You sure act like one.”

And their spat continued even as Sasuke continued his brawl with Lee and Sakura assisted from time to time.

Amidst all this, they have forgotten that Tenten was still in the game.

“Sasuke, watch out!”

The ANBU looked from Sakura to behind him and spotted Tenten throwing a chain directed to him. Cursing when he got caught, Sakura made a move to help her partner out but Lee once again prevented the female Jounin from interfering.

“LEE! I swear, if you don’t stop now I will forever hate you!” she yelled.

“GAI-SENSEI!!”

Cue the waterfall tears…

“No Lee! It is only to deceive you! Continue to fight and prove your worth!”

“Gai-sensei that’s cheating!” Sakura yelled, blocking another attack from the younger version of the taijutsu teacher.

“Can’t believe I caught myself an ANBU.” Tenten grinned, pulling onto the chains. “And how easy it was.”

Sasuke turned to glare at her, ending up as a smirk which surprised Tenten. He jumped onto the air and forced his body to slam against hers, causing them both to hit the ground. As she was recovering, he quickly rolled to the side to loosen the chains a bit before managing to escape and throwing a few kunai with explosive tags attached to them to Tenten, who cursed and rolled away, coughing as smoke surrounded the field. “Look who’s caught who now.” Sasuke hissed, hitting a pressure point behind her neck to render her unconscious.

“One more to go.” He turned to Lee and rushed towards the battle when he noted how Sakura had already begun to stagger. At this, he wasted no time to pump chakra into his legs and start running in-between Lee and Sakura, ducking to avoid the punch from the male Jounin at the same time, kick Lee’s chin upwards, sending him in the air. He soon jumped and did a series of kicks that sent Lee forcefully back on the ground, knocking him out.

Kakashi, from out of nowhere, blew onto a whistle to end the fight. “Looks like the winners are still our famous lovebirds.” He grinned as Sasuke panted and wiped the bead of sweat on his chin with his forearm before turning to Sakura who was on the brink of chakra exhaustion. “Gaki.” He muttered, catching her when she fell forward. “Shut up… Uchiha…”

He couldn’t help but sigh.

“Take Haruno to the clinic, the rest of you, press the punctured points of the others.” Gai ordered, taking Lee and shaking him awake.

Sasuke carried Sakura on his back and headed to the clinic, having finally caught his breath. On the way, he only realized how he seemed so tired over a battle like this. Sure Konoha had exceptional ninjas, but for an ANBU of his level, he wondered why he had hard time in defeating the ninjas.

“…Did… we win..?”

He turned to Sakura to answer. “Yeah, just get some rest.”

“Mm…” she closed her eyes, and he continued walking, eyes glancing back at her when he felt her arms tighten around him.

If we tear the lovebirds apart, the one left would die in misery…

Kakashi’s words echoed in his head, and he stopped to reflect on it.

You’ll both die when torn apart…

“Sou…” he murmured, smiling a bit when he caught how Sakura looked so happy and content sleeping on his back, her arms around him, as if refusing to let go. “He meant teamwork.” He murmured. “If Sakura hadn’t interfered earlier, I would’ve lost due to Lee’s speed. And if I didn’t help her out when Lee was about to deliver a finishing blow, she could’ve lost.” And with that, he continued his way to the clinic.

“Heh. So, we’re lovebirds now, huh Sakura?”

To be continued…

Next on Genjustu: Chapter 7: Sasuke’s Past

“Why did you suddenly freeze like that?! You could’ve died!”

He didn’t answer but just remained perfectly still.

“Sasuke..?”

“…I saw her.” He suddenly said.

A/N: My computer is dead people. I can only use my brother’s PC whenever he isn’t busy with work! So sorry for the short and sucky action.