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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[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.