Chapter 44: The Seal of Heaven
"You!" Seeing his grin, Sasuke felt a wave of heat flood her cheeks. Shameless! And the thought of disrobing, of having him inscribe symbols on her skin… a full-body shudder ran through her. This was utterly, completely unprecedented!
Maybe she shouldn't have agreed to this.
Yet… he'd sent Kakashi away. He'd thought of that. He was considerate of her. The realization sent a strange, warm flutter through her chest, mingling confusingly with her embarrassment.
Truthfully, Naruto himself was a little puzzled by his own insistence. He held no inappropriate thoughts for the proud Uchiha girl. He simply couldn't stand the idea of Kakashi seeing her in that vulnerable state. Perhaps, because her persistent rivalry had carved a unique, if irritating, space for her in his mind, he felt a need to protect her dignity. It was a subtle, unexamined feeling.
Shaking off the introspection, he focused on the task. "Take off your top."
The words made Sasuke flinch. She bit her lower lip, hard, then slowly began to undress. Her jacket came off, then the undershirt beneath. In the dim light of the sealed room, the pale, smooth skin of her upper body seemed to glow.
Naruto allowed himself a moment of purely aesthetic appreciation—no wonder this world has its lolicon fans—before forcing his mind into clinical focus.
He bit his thumb, drawing blood. Eyes narrowing in concentration, he began. Starting at the inflamed curse mark on the side of her neck, he used his bleeding thumb to carefully trace a series of intricate, archaic sealing formulae across her skin.
Her back, her arms, the slender curve of her waist, the plane of her chest, the dip of her navel… bit by bit, the complex pattern spread across her bare torso. Sasuke's face burned. Her body trembled not from cold, but from the alien sensation of his fingers moving with deliberate precision over her. A strange, prickling heat followed his touch, pooling low in her stomach, making her feel restless, anxious, and utterly mortified. Is he… taking advantage?
After what felt like an eternity—over ten minutes of meticulous work—Naruto finally sat back with a deep exhale. He and his observing shadow clone carefully reviewed every line of the blood-red seal. Satisfied, he nodded. "The matrix is complete. Sasuke, you need to focus now."
His voice, steady and serious, cut through her haze of shame. She closed her eyes, forcing her chaotic emotions down, seeking the cold focus she was known for.
"Next, no matter how much it hurts, you must stay conscious. Understand?" Naruto's tone was grave.
A slight nod.
"Just endure. It'll be over soon." In the next moment, he placed his palm flat against the curse mark on her neck.
His gentleness, even now, was a small anchor. The warmth of his hand was a comfort. For a second, she felt oddly safe.
Then, the pain came.
It was a white-hot lance, driving from her neck and exploding through every nerve ending in her body. "Ngh—!" A choked gasp escaped her. She bit down on her already bruised lip, tasting copper. Wave after wave of bone-deep, marrow-searing agony wracked her frame, making her shudder violently. She fought against the blackness threatening her vision, clinging to his command: Stay awake. Unknowingly, she bit clean through her lip; thin trails of blood traced down her chin and dripped to the stone floor.
Seeing her at the limit, Naruto let out a sharp cry. "Now!"
The blood-written seals on her body flared with a soft light. Like living ink, they flowed, converging toward the curse mark on her neck. Naruto's own chakra, carrying his will and the power of the sealing art, surged along those channels, following the path of the symbols into the very heart of the cursed energy within Sasuke.
His consciousness dove in after it.
For Sasuke, half an hour stretched into a year of suffering. When the pain finally receded, leaving her hollow and spent, her legs gave out completely.
Strong arms caught her, cradling her bare, exhausted form against a solid chest.
"It's done. You were brave, Sasuke." Naruto's voice was soft, laced with his own fatigue. Using the sealing jutsu, using his own spirit as a spearhead to invade her curse mark and, with the seal's power, scour away the lingering vestige of Orochimaru's will… it had drained him.
But it was done. Sasuke's Curse Mark was now severed from Orochimaru's control, just as his own was. It no longer carried the corrosive poison.
However, it also meant the power within it was now locked. Purified into raw, untamed Natural Energy, it was inert. Without the innate comprehension Naruto possessed—forged from his unique psyche and desperate struggle—or formal Sage training, she would never be able to draw on it. The path to wielding such power was long and perilous; Naruto himself was only taking the first, unstable steps.
Leaning into Naruto's warmth, utterly spent in body and mind, Sasuke finally surrendered to exhaustion. As unconsciousness took her, an unconscious, peaceful smile touched her lips.
Seeing her asleep, Naruto carefully dressed her, then lifted her in his arms and carried her out.
Outside, Kakashi was leaning against the wall, apparently engrossed in his orange book. The door opened. He looked up, took in the sight of Naruto holding the unconscious Sasuke, and asked quietly, "Naruto. Success?"
Naruto answered with a tired but confident smile.
Kakashi let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and chuckled. "Well done! But… Sasuke didn't put up much of a fight? I mean… for the sealing, she had to… you know…" His one visible eye crinkled with unmistakable, knowing amusement.
Naruto's eye twitched. This guy and his stupid book… "I'm taking her to the lounge to rest," he said flatly, and flickered away before Kakashi could say another word.
After settling Sasuke in a quiet recovery room, Naruto returned to the main hall of the tower.
Sakura spotted him immediately and rushed over. "Naruto! Where did you go? You missed everything! The matches were so intense! And you didn't get to see my match, it's not fair!" She launched into a rapid-fire, excited recap.
Naruto listened with a patient smile. When he heard the next match would be the last one—Choji's—he blinked. "Wait, so… all the others are over already?"
"Yeah! You missed a lot!"
"Tell me who fought who, and how it went," Naruto asked, his interest genuine. He was most concerned about one person. Hinata. How had her match against Neji gone? Was it as brutal as the original? Sakura didn't seem distressed, so perhaps it had followed a similar path.
Sakura's recount confirmed it. Things had unfolded much as he remembered. But a pang of guilt hit him. Hinata, fighting so desperately, injured… and he hadn't been there watching. She must have been disappointed. I need to go see her after this.
Scene Twelve: The Draw
Naruto watched the final preliminary match. Afterwards, the Third Hokage announced the official pairings for the final tournament, to be held in one month's time. Naruto's opponent: Neji Hyuga. Sasuke's opponent: Gaara of the Desert.
So, some things stay on course, Naruto mused.
Orochimaru's Konoha Crush plan was now a looming shadow on the horizon. He still hadn't devised a solid way to stop it. The only answer that seemed possible was the same as always: to become stronger. He had one month.