Curse Mark Night

The campfire. The three of them sat in a circle. Firelight cast an orange glow over their faces. The forest lay ten meters away, black as a solid mass.

Naruto was the first to fall asleep. Leaning against a tree, drool trickled from the corner of his mouth. After Orochimaru, he had been tense for too long.

Sasuke did not sleep. He leaned against another tree, eyes closed. But his breathing was wrong—broken, fast one moment and slow the next.

Ringo was on watch. First shift. Moonlight leaked through the canopy, breaking into scattered patches on his knees. In his card slots were six white cards and one purple card. Against someone on Orochimaru's level, these cards were like paper.

The system gave a faint tremor.

[Detected: unknown energy, Curse Mark, source: Sasuke Uchiha, expanding]

Ringo turned his head.

Sasuke's body was shaking. The black markings on his neck were crawling outward. Three tomoe, starting at the base of his neck, spreading toward his face and arms. They were alive, like snakes swimming beneath his skin. A low sound came from Sasuke's throat, as though something inside him were choking him.

"Sasuke—"

Ringo stood up. Sasuke's eyes opened. He had not woken up. The Curse Mark had forced them open. His pupils trembled, and there was an extra layer inside them. Pale purple.

"This is what Orochimaru left behind." Ringo crouched down, but did not touch him. "It isn't chakra. It's a curse."

Sasuke could not speak. His lips moved without making a sound. The black markings on his neck spread to his jaw.

[Detected: Curse Mark fragment, purple, source: Sasuke Uchiha. Collect?]

Ringo selected "Yes." It was for research. Only by understanding the enemy could he synthesize a way to fight back.

A card floated up from Sasuke's neck. Dark purple, like a piece of dyed ice. It gave a hum as it flew into the card slot.

Ringo opened the synthesis panel. Curse Mark fragment, purple. Beside it was a basic sealing technique fragment, white. He did not remember when he had accumulated it.

The synthesis paths appeared.

Path A—Stable · 85%—Sealing Technique · Basic Enhancement (Purple)

Path B—Risky · 50%—May obtain Curse Mark Detection-type sealing technique / May destroy Curse Mark fragment

Path C—Extreme · 15%—Evil-Sealing Method (Orange) / Card slot limit -1

He selected Path B.

The synthesis slot began to spin. The Curse Mark fragment and sealing technique fragment seemed to bite at each other. The white glow of the sealing technique suppressed the dark purple of the Curse Mark. Light seeped into darkness. Darkness fought back. One minute. Two minutes. Ringo's hand trembled—not from fear, but because the synthesis was consuming his concentration.

Ding.

[Synthesis successful. Purple · Sealing Technique · Curse Mark Detection. Can detect Curse Mark chakra within a hundred-meter radius.]

Ringo closed his eyes. It was as if he had gained another nerve. Sasuke's Curse Mark registered as three tomoe, burning hot. Purple-black chakra was seeping outward, but more slowly now.

"Sasuke." Ringo lowered his voice. "The thing on your neck is giving you power. But it isn't free. You have to decide for yourself whether you want it."

Sasuke blinked. His pupils had returned. Halfway. His lips moved.

"...Pow... er..."

"I know," Ringo said. "But Orochimaru gave you the Curse Mark because he wants you. If you use his power, you'll owe him again."

Sasuke said nothing.

His eyes closed. The Curse Mark began to recede, shrinking back into the three tomoe at the base of his neck. The black markings retreated from his face and vanished from sight. But they were still there. Ringo could sense them. They were waiting.

Naruto turned over and woke up. "Sasuke—what happened—?"

"The Curse Mark flared up," Ringo said. "It's receded for now. Your shift is next."

Naruto did not sleep. He sat by the campfire. The flames had weakened considerably. He added two branches. Crackle. Sparks flew up and quickly died in the night sky.

"Ringo." Naruto did not look at him, just stared into the fire. "Do you—have anyone you want to protect?"

Ringo stared at the fire too.

"Yes."

"Who?"

"A lot of people. You—Sasuke—"

He paused. At the training ground, she was always there. Waiting for him to finish, waiting for him to look over. Lowering her head, blushing. Every single time.

"And—Hinata."

Naruto's mouth fell open. "Hi—Hinata?! That—the eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan?!"

"Yeah. That eldest daughter."

Naruto was stunned for a long while, then laughed. "I knew it—you always look her way during training."

"I don't."

"You do."

"...I do."

They laughed at the same time. In the Forest of Death—beside a campfire—they could still laugh. No. It meant, we're still alive.

Naruto threw the last branch into the fire. "I have people too. I'm going to protect everyone. Because—I'm going to become Hokage."

It was not a slogan. Ringo could hear it. It was not so everyone can eat ramen. It was so they won't have to cry anymore.

"You will," Ringo said.

The campfire burned out. The sky turned from black to gray. The forest changed from a single black mass to layers upon layers of green. Dew on the leaves. Moss on the ground. Far away—a bird called out, testing whether dawn had come.

Sasuke opened his eyes.

The Curse Mark had temporarily receded. The three tomoe on his neck could not be seen. But Ringo's senses trembled. It was hiding beneath his skin, waiting for the next time.

Sasuke stood up and looked at his hands. There was a faint hint of purple in his eyes.

"Sasuke—you—" Naruto began.

"I'm fine," Sasuke cut him off, his voice colder as he clenched his fist. "Orochimaru said—I crave power."

Ringo said nothing.

"He was—right."

Sasuke lowered his hand and looked at Ringo. It was a statement. "I need power. Because—if I have power—you won't have to—"

He did not finish. He did not dare. Saying it aloud would mean admitting it. Admitting that he was not strong enough. Admitting that Orochimaru had nearly taken him away. Admitting that he needed companions.

Ringo stood up. In his card slot, the Curse Mark Detection card hummed like a compass, pointing at the Curse Mark on Sasuke's neck.

"Sasuke. I'll keep an eye on the thing on you. If it tries to make you do something you shouldn't—I'll stop you."

Sasuke looked at him for a long time. The corner of his mouth twitched. "Do whatever you want."

Naruto sprang up from the ground. "All right, all right—daybreak—let's go! How much farther to the Central Tower?"

"Don't know."

Ringo closed the card slot. "But we should get there today."

The forest woke. Wind slipped through the canopy. It was today's wind.

Ringo walked in front. The Curse Mark Detection card waited in his card slot, waiting for the Curse Mark on Sasuke's neck to move again.

He knew that Sasuke carried something he needed to watch over. Not what Orochimaru had left behind, but his companion. What Sasuke himself chose. Or had yet to choose.

The forest was waiting. So was he.