Night 57: The Coliseum

[el_aguila]

Touching the sandy grounds of the coliseum was a catalyst, and the progression of day did not mean the end of the process. By fortune or otherwise, this group's efforts were not allowed to halt simply due to the rising sun. Therefore, when nighttime was pronounced, those who had undergone the beginnings of an incomplete trial were pulled from their

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[sasuke_of_sound]

It would have been less a waste of time if Sai were willing to cooperate, but even as the ink from the remaining two dogs splattered wetly onto the dusty floor and across Sasuke's skin it was clear that Sai didn't intend to stand down. And while Sasuke had no particular interest in killing Sai -- not for any love lost and more out of a personal distaste for the notion of killing someone who had been useful all this time, occasional fallacy or not -- he had no problems with fighting him.

The goal, though, would naturally be to disable him so that Sasuke could get a clear shot at Aguilar even without Sai's backup. In the meantime, if Sakura said she could handle it and could speak that clearly, Sasuke would take her at her word.

He didn't intend to let it last too long, anyway. Another flare of power solidified into serpentine strips of Sai's distinctive chakra hissing toward Sasuke's limbs, one of them reaching and starting to wrap around his leg: something that might have been more alarming had Sasuke not spent far more time around snakes than he could ever have wished by this point.

Not bothering to find a response for Sai's ridiculous words, Sasuke bit his thumb to smear a quick summoning-seal against the dirt. In the next moment a two thick coils of snakes had writhed out of his wide sleeves and down his body, fangs bared to snap down on the ink-snakes trying to tie him down. Another snake, a long-fanged viper, hissed out from between the other two and reared its head back to strike as it made a beeline for Sai.

Sasuke fully expected the other shinobi to dodge the strike -- it was more a ploy to keep Sai's hands from being steady enough to draw any further annoyances before Sasuke could get in range enough to knock him out.

[tsunagari]

The other ninja still wasn't using deadly tactics, snakes or no. Sai supposed this was to be expected. Perhaps he should even be grateful that Sasuke wasn't so ready to kill him now, even if it was only to stick it to their captor. He hadn't shown nearly as much hesitation before they'd become locked up in this place together.

He wasn't going to allow himself to just be knocked out, though. No. The wound had to be fatal.

Sai stared at the missing-nin, determined, as the snake lashed out toward him. He didn't dodge the strike, though he could have. He raised an arm as if to block it, knowing this would do no good, and let it sink its fangs into his arm. His eyes remained trained on the other ninja all the while. He was going to put up a fight, but he wasn't aiming to win here.

He would make Sasuke kill him somehow. This wasn't a task he'd ever imagined would be difficult.

[sasuke_of_sound]

Sasuke had expected Sai to dodge -- had known he would, had quite simply planned his next three actions knowing that he would, and when the Sharingan read no intent to move whatsoever he thought for a split second that Landel's tampering had damaged his genetic inheritance. But Sai truly did not move, with a determination in his expression that Sasuke associated with a desire to live, and the viper's fangs sank and doubtless delivered.

There was a stunned second while Sasuke stood ready for a counterattack that was not happening, a distant part of his mind calculating the venom load of this breed and size of snake, and then he snapped forward into furious reaction to non-action. The snake vanished in a puff of summons-smoke at the same time Sasuke surged forward, Sharingan-wheel spinning a rapid sakki genjutsu.

There was no specificity in it, simply a projection of sheer terror aimed to paralyze. Sai had experienced it once already, and with that awareness Sasuke punched more chakra to his eyes to deepen the strength of the genjutsu. Something stung behind them, like a blockage of chakra straining to bleed through, but he ignored it.

Because more importantly: Sai stood stock-still (as he had moments before) and Sasuke raised his sword to strike, Chidori-screams blazing down the Kusanagi's length. The blade swished through air with the clean silence of the best shinobi blades and bit into the flesh of Sai's forearm, directly across the two bleeding fang-wounds. A sizzle met the air as lightning chakra cauterized flesh, loud enough to cover the slice of metal deep through muscle, just avoiding bone.

It was the least gentle or ideal method of reducing the poison's effect, but Sasuke was not only no medic-nin but rather far from caring about tenderness at the moment. The most Sai could hope for was to lose the limb rather than his life at this point -- and then again, and again infuriatingly, it seemed as if Sai was hoping for exactly the opposite.

"You can have a death wish," Sasuke's voice was low, as venomous with anger as the dispelled viper's fangs with poison, and the Sharingan spun threat in dizzying black circles. "But I wish no part of it."

He deepened the genjutsu as he spoke, trying now to simply knock Sai's mind out of commission altogether and get him out of the way. Vaguely, he was aware of commotion in the viewers' seats -- but those chakra signatures remained trapped where they were and thus the focus was here on this fool.

[tsunagari]

The genjutsu hit hard, that familiar feeling causing Sai's blood to freeze. He was no stranger to fear now, but this was still more potent than most. He dropped to his knees, unable to help himself, sweat dripping from his brow. Such a focused attack on his emotions was hard to overcome, especially for one like Sai who was unused to dealing with many emotions from the get-go. Fear kept him rooted in place, his limbs temporarily disobeying him.

Unfortunately for his plans, Sasuke wasn't using this opportunity to kill him. No, it was worse than that. He was using it to delay him, to keep him stationary while he tried other tactics, wasting what time they had with futile attempts at escape. They were not the first to be brought to this arena and they wouldn't be the last. Sai just couldn't see how there wouldn't be enough safeguards to keep them at bay - not when he could knock all of them out without expending any effort at all.

The wound was cauterized, but blood still dripped down his arm from the initial damage. It was all he could do to try and focus on that, on the pain running through his body. There wasn't as much as he might have expected, and he could only assume from Sasuke's reaction that this was because of the venom in the initial bite. He was determined not to let Sasuke get away.

Shakily, the uninjured arm slowly made its way over to the other, gathering up blood on its fingers. With that same arm, and focusing on moving just one limb this way was easier than trying to get himself fully coordinated, the ninja painted the sloppy image of a bird in the dirt in front of him in deep red. The properties of blood and ink were just close enough...

Getting the words out and forming the hand symbols would be something else entirely. He could hardly form the coherent thought necessary, and his arm fell shakily at his side once the drawing was complete.

[sasuke_of_sound]

In another fight, Sasuke might have spared the second's time to be pleasantly surprised by Sai's determination to fight through the poison -- an indication of an opponent that might have been a worthwhile distraction, someone whose defeat could contribute to his strength. The problem was that Sai was taking up time with this stupid insistence on dying, time in which they might have struck at Aguilar or something in the arena, time in which they might avoid having to listen to those in the stands bleed out.

Why was Sai so dead-set on his faith in the Institute's power, of all things? Sasuke gritted his teeth in irritation as the crackle of breaking ground rang out from the stands; Sakura, displaying more power than he had expected of her and still unable to break the barrier.

But Sakura was still limited, and they weren't: Sai proved it with his own hands when he wavered the drawing in front of him. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, Sharingan reading the intent of the chakra. The technique was a solid one, doubtless well-used and well-trained, but better in mid- to long-range, and even a poisoned and half-paralysed shinobi should have known it.

Sai wasn't fighting back so much as inciting him, and it was wasting their time.

Without bothering to wait for whatever creature was forming now, Sasuke gathered chakra and flickered out of sight, reappearing behind Sai in a flutter of leaves. The butt of the Kusanagi's grip was slamming at the back of Sai's neck before the move had even fully settled, Sasuke aiming to strike the nerve that would throw the Konoha-nin out of consciousness enough for something to actually get done.

[tsunagari]

It was so hard to focus, to think, but Sai was trying desperately. It was perhaps because of this that time seemed to pass in slow motion. Sasuke was watching him as decided how best to take him out of the fight. That was easy enough to tell. Once again, it wouldn't be to kill him. He'd simply incapacitate him, and Sai couldn't allow that.

He was moving as Sasuke was moving. No words, just quick hand symbols and a slap upon the ground. The bird rose from the shape in the dirt, growing in size quickly. The ninja all but fell forward onto it as it did so, as Sasuke reappeared behind him. With a shriek from lungs the bird didn't actually own, it carried Sai off the ground and into the air.

Perhaps Sasuke would keep his focus on him, or perhaps he'd use this moment to go after Aguilar. It didn't matter either way. All he needed was a breather - a few moments just below the barrier of the arena to piece his thoughts back together. It wasn't easy forcing someone to kill you.

[sasuke_of_sound]

Even through the venom and the remnants of sakki, Sai moved before Sasuke could land a blow. Did Sai actually mean to fight, now? Sasuke could easily have preferred an all-out fight with Sai trying as hard to kill Sasuke as he currently was trying to get himself killed. The chakra-bird swept open its huge wingspan and rose out of immediate range, Sai's similar chakra-smear pulsing on its back.

It left him with the choice of continuing to attack Sai or taking advantage of the distance Sai had gathered and trying to attack Aguilar -- one dragged out whatever mess was happening in the stands and the other ...

The other was the final goal, doubtless, and Sai's attempt at creating space between them smelled more of desperate escape more than deliberate positioning unless Sasuke had grossly underestimated the Konoha-nin's fighting style. That left a gap of time while Sai tried to regroup and Sasuke wasn't patient enough to ignore it --

Chakra screamed around his right hand as he let the curse seal progress halfway across his body, black flame-shapes crawling down the length of his arm and darkening the shrieking chakra gathering visibly around it. Sharingan pinpointing Sai (high, momentarily inconsequential) as well as the bright candles of the so-called spectators, Sasuke gathered chakra to his feet once more and flickered onto the smooth wall of the arena, feet slapping quickly against the wall and Chidori aimed to cut and wrench through the air, aimed directly for the barrier in front of the General.

[tsunagari]

He was being ignored for the moment, which was good. Sai needed those few moments to breathe, to shake off the genjutsu and allow the pounding in his heart to settle. A desperate plan had been forming in his mind at one point, but it was hard to fit the pieces of it back together in this mental state. Shaky hands pulled out his scroll with its brush and ink again, and he held it in his lap while he recuperated.

Sasuke's attempts to break through the barrier were already going about as well as he thought they'd go, which was to say not well at all. And Aguilar's words, that they were losing, caused him to focus all that much harder on finishing what he'd started. He wasn't going to allow anyone else to die but him.

The scroll was unraveled, and Sai began drawing out several more quick birds across the parchment. The Sharingan was a tricky thing. It could read intent in movement too easily. He had to keep himself far away at first, distracting Sasuke with attacks he wouldn't be able to outright ignore. If he could keep him swatting at them just long enough, perhaps not long at all, then just maybe...

Shrieks filled the arena as the ink creations dove at the other ninja.

[sasuke_of_sound]

The barrier didn't so much as tremor -- Chidori's sparks blazed and then faded away within a metre of Aguilar's face, the chakra burning placidly where the man sat not even twitching in response. Nothing, except an infuriatingly calm shrug and words directed at him that were filled with the absolute certainty of victory.

Because there was no doubt about it: the victory here was Aguilar's, the Institute's, and nothing to do with the people fighting in the ring or those in the stands. The image of the General flickered into intent with that deliberate indication of the spectators, Aidou's fury distantly recording into memory, Brook's questions ignored. Sakura's silence the most troubling of all.

But Sasuke was not an Uchiha in name only, and the Sharingan required no more than sight to work its power. If Sai would just -- sit down in a corner and be quiet for a moment, maybe --

The shrieks of more birds tore out behind him and Sasuke whipped around, both feet still cemented to the wall, and flicked his hands through the quickest and most familiar set of hand seals of all. Katon jutsu exploded from his breath and blazed across the arena, fireballs tumbling into leonine shape as they tore forward to meet Sai's diving creatures.

In the meantime, Sasuke pummeled chakra towards his eyes, sweeping clean pathways that had lain dormant for more than a month. There was the sense of something there, still, and if he could just -- he watched Sai and the distance the Konoha-nin was keeping, waiting for the next chance to take him out of commission.

[tsunagari]

Sai watched as the birds were dispersed with fire. That wasn't good enough. He needed Sasuke to come at them with his blade, and he needed it to be an action done mostly without thought. For that, he would need to send out more of the images, have them spread about, have him get used to attacking them. The more thinly they were spread, the less effective his fire attack would be when compared to a simple physical blow.

He would have to keep tabs on his movements, watch what he attacked first and when, and take notice of when the actions started to become second nature.

The distress of those in the stands was noticeable even from his higher position. He needed to end this quickly before they took too much more damage. He should be the one to take the fall here, not them. If Sasuke would just allow him to do it this whole matter could be ended so much more quickly.

The ninja drew several more birds on the parchment, sending them flying out in a larger fan this time. Then, without pause, he drew several more.

[sasuke_of_sound]

He could sense the Sharingan spinning dizzily and could see (see) the stadium in the crisp reds and greys of his birthright, and yet he couldn't see the sense in what Sai was doing -- he could see the reason, but the logic behind running and fighting in order to die had been beyond him from the very beginning. And maybe that was his own cowardice, the sin engraved in his past in moon and the blood of his kin, but in this dusty arena with this --

This asshole watching, Sasuke simply could not understand. Aidou was shouting in the stands, Brook shouting back and Sakura's voice angry and determined. They were bleeding, Sasuke knew that much, and abruptly he considered Aidou, his very literal bloodlust and the present of all of it around him.

But the thought lasted only a moment: they were not priorities except in the sense of urging urgency. More immediate: the winged chakra-forms that Sai sent toward him next, Sasuke's eyes flitting back and form between them as the Sharingan tracked their movements. Wide formation, several points of attack, and Sai behind them already drawing more; if he simply kept blowing fire at them they would both waste far more time and chakra than they could afford.

If Sai could just be knocked out -- Sasuke had to get closer and Sai was obviously trying to keep him at a distance and keep him occupied with these birds as part of some more detailed strategy. Eyes narrowed in concentration, Sasuke focused on the flight paths of the attacking chakra, shurgged his shirt loose, and then pushed off the wall, letting the juuin twist free at the same time.

Dark, leathery wings burst from his own shoulders for a minute, flapping powerfully twice. It was enough to carry him just high of the first bird before he forced the curse-seal chakra back and landed on its back, driving Kusanagi through its bright form and pushing off at the same time to land on the next, working back towards Sai's location all the while.

His vision narrowed onto Sai's hands, still busily painting even with the snake's poison doubtless turning each movement into pain. They grew clearer in sight as they moved, clearer as his target even as his blade plunged into another bird's back.

[tsunagari]

There. That was exactly what he needed. Sasuke could sense his chakra, could sense his movements, but even someone as could at sensory techniques as Sasuke could only take in so much at one time. There had to be a moment, even the smallest fragment of a second, where he was focused too much on one motion for him to be able to take in all of Sai's.

It was all in the timing. As hard as it was for Sai to focus on anything at the moment, he had to put the last bit of effort he could muster into this. The brush in his hand drew out the form of another bird, but the hand signs that followed didn't match the same technique as before. There, right at the moment when Sasuke raised his sword to plunge it into another of his ink creations, the other ninja performed the proper substitution technique and switched places with it.

Back to the ground, Sai reached out to grab Sasuke's descending arm and aim it where it needed to go. He did this calmly, without hesitation. This was just another mission, another goal to be met, and one that had to be carried out without any margin for error.

There were no other options, and no more time to waste thinking there might be.

[sasuke_of_sound]

It happened in a flash -- a ninja second, the splice of time they were taught from childhood to seize -- Sasuke saw the flicker of changing chakra before he felt it, heard the swipe of blade against flesh before he could stop his own body. A month with no training and muscles were already weakened from lack of use. And Sai, playing dirty by fighting to die rather than to live and the tactics within that strategy something akin to an alien planet of battle instead of something that should have been as familiar as breath itself.

Instead of what Sasuke knew, of what he had lived by and what everyone who had srrounded him had lived by. Except Sai.

-- except Itachi.

And for what, exactly? To what ends and what purpose could death be the best choice (and why; and why), especially here (especially for Sasuke)? Those who had watched them scramble for their entertainment, Danzo, Landel, this new Aguilar, Konoha, remained unharmed. Unhurt, powerful.

Sai's hands gripped with the strength of deliberate purpose. There was no crunch of bone or tearing fabric -- Kusanagi slid through the bare flesh of his torso with the silken ease of its perfect design. It was a fatal wound, placed with the precision of one who knew how, and even as Sasuke instinctively resisted the pressure of those hands he could tell that it was too late.

"You're a fool," he whispered, Sharingan bright and furious. The blade slid free of Sai's body (easy, clean; and his own brother's blood had stained a mock sword that wrenched in agony) as they hurtled toward the ground, blood first oozing and then streaming free from the wound. Sai's face flickered in Sharingan-grey vision, clearer and longer than -- and Sasuke found himself shouting as the dusty arena floor loomed close:

"You're a fool!"

[tsunagari]

Finally, the blade hit true. Sai had never been stabbed fatally before, clearly, but he knew he'd been certain to hit the right mark. The two of them fell back to the ground as the world, already dimming around the ninja, began to fade out entirely. Sasuke was yelling something at him, which didn't surprise him in the slightest. All he could do was smile back at the other ninja, sure it would only infuriate him further but not actually caring.

Even now, he was certain that he'd made the right decision. If he'd thought there was any way to get out of their situation or possibly attack the man in charge, he would have done his best to help. But he'd just been in the Institute so long, seen too much of how they controlled the patients here, to think they stood much of a chance. Perhaps a month wasn't all that long in the main scheme of things, but it had seemed so much longer and so many things had happened over the course of it.

Regrets would hardly matter at this point, however. The choice had been made. Sasuke's angry face blurred into nothingness, and he was dead before he hit the ground.