Bake-neko

By TwinEnigma

Disclaimer: I do this for fun and because I should be sleeping. Obviously, I don't own Naruto and I'm not making money off my scribblings.

Characters: Sasuke Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki

Keywords: AU, Chuunin-exam arc

15: Parallel

Neji’s fight with his cousin Hinata was cruel, even by Sasuke’s standards. It made him want to retch and reminded him violently of that man. Neji’s whole attitude had been irritating before, but now...

Sasuke wanted to make him bleed.

He gripped the railing hard, his knuckles going white as he ground his teeth and watched her cousin verbally belittle her into a shaking, tearful nervous wreck. In Neji’s place, he saw that man and in Hinata’s place, he saw himself as he was on that night. Rage bubbled under his skin and it was taking everything he had to not leap down there.

“Sasuke!” Kakashi growled, slamming a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Your teammate’s matches are over. Go to the medic station, now!”

It was like being doused in ice water. Sasuke leaned forward, panting, and wobbled a little.

Sakura gave him a concerned look and rested a hand on his forehead, hissing as she yanked it away, “Sensei’s right, Sasuke. You’re burning up.”

“Just a little longer,” he said, straightening up, still panting. “I need to see this.”

Sakura’s expression shifted to questioning, but a shake of Kakashi’s head and a resigned sigh kept her from asking.

Naruto also shot him a look and then nodded, turning back to the match. “Don’t say things like they’re final, idiot! Kick that fucker’s ass, Hinata!”

“Yeah... yeah,” Sasuke said and then shouted, “Show him that you’re not weak! Show him what it means to be –“

He stopped suddenly, realizing that he’d been about to say his own last name, and then gingerly touched his forehead. Between his fingers, the younger version of himself wavered back into Hinata. “Just kick his ass,” he finished lamely.

“Sasuke, after this fight, you will go to the medic station immediately,” Kakashi said. “Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” Sasuke muttered.

At first, it looked like Hinata was doing well and then the whole illusion began to crumble as Neji systematically shut her down in the cruelest way possible. With each blow, Sasuke felt something in him crushed as his own mind replayed the horrific events of that night. Yet, Hinata still got back up and kept going, just as he had all those years ago.

All the chatter around him faded into noise as he watched, his hands gripping the metal with white knuckles. Would this be how it would go for him if that man were to appear now?

Then Hinata was saying something, “...The only one lost and despairing in the destiny of our houses is you.”

Neji stiffened and attacked even as the proctor shouted at him.

This time, the fury flared and Sasuke didn’t want to stop it, his hands clenching into fists in rage. “Bastard!”

Kakashi, Gai, and Team Eight’s jounin sensei were all suddenly in the arena below, each one restraining Neji. Naruto was already halfway over the railing when Hinata collapsed, Lee and Sakura already on his heels, and Sasuke didn’t hesitate to follow them to the girl’s side. Hinata was severely injured, that much was clear, and her image wavered with that of his own from long ago.

“Weaklings will always be weak,” Neji spat. “Nothing ever changes.”

Naruto stiffened.

Sasuke clenched his fists, his body shaking. “No... I refuse to believe that.”

Everyone stared at him in surprise and he didn’t care – he was too angry and mixed up in his head.

“You, Hyuuga... You’re walking the path of a monster I knew,” Sasuke ground out, “A monster that I intend to kill. Stay on this path, become like him, and I swear I will kill you.”

The medics clustered around Hinata as they sped through preparation to transport her for emergency treatment. Her heart was giving up.

“Go with the medical team, Sasuke,” Kakashi said, tapping him on the shoulder.

Neji scoffed, seeming completely unaffected.

“You,” Naruto swore, clenching a fist smeared with Hinata’s blood as he glared at Neji. “You’re going down.”

Beside him, Lee nodded.

Sasuke paused as he passed the Hyuuga and glared at him. “Pray you fight Naruto or Lee, because I won’t be as merciful as them.”

Above, the railing he’d been gripping was twisted, the impressions of his fingers visible in the metal.

AN: I really think Sasuke would have found the Hinata - Neji fight even more horrific than his teammates did. I'm also aware that this seems like a very slow build, but I'm loathe to neglect how this changes things for everyone involved, from Orochimaru (and both Itachi and Madara down the line) to the development of Naruto and Sakura. You'll have to bear with me.