Sakura was going to blame him for this, he was sure of it. The girl had a horrid grip on reality.

Of course, the entire thing was ridiculous. Ninja didn't get captured, they got killed. The idea that two-thirds of a team—more importantly, of a Leaf team—could get taken alive and imprisoned, leaving the third member free to attempt a rescue, was insane. For that matter, why would the third member attempt a rescue? Why wouldn't he go back to Leaf to complete the mission and gather reinforcements? Going up against a foe that had already captured two of your peers (well, teammates) would be foolish. Also, what in every world ever imagined by human mind could possibly take Naruto captive, much less hold him? If the stupid proctors were going to do this, they could at least have made the decision as to who the 'prisoners' and the 'rescuer' were based on the abilities of those involved instead of making them literally draw straws.

It was especially galling that he had been the one to draw the short straw as the rescuer because, much as he hated to admit it, either of the others would have been a better choice. Sasuke's role on the team was diplomat and free safety, but this scenario didn't play to his strengths. He could apply ridiculous amounts of force in close- or mid-range, but not sustain it over an extended battle the way Naruto could. He could sneak and scout, but not as well as Sakura could. Naruto, with his utterly ridiculous chakra pool with which to power Rasengans and his total lack of thinking, would have simply carved a straight path to his team, cutting through walls and guards alike, all without slowing down. Sakura, with her ridiculous stealth skills and sensory jutsu, could have practically strolled in behind one of the guards, lifted the keys off his belt, and unlocked the cells. Sure, if she'd been spotted she would have been cooked, but the odds of anyone spotting her were pretty low.

So, yeah. He was the one responsible for the rescue, and Sakura was undoubtedly going to be pissy with him about not showing up sooner. Sage's mercy upon him if her 'captors' had mussed her hair in the process of locking her up.

Bah.

Sasuke pressed himself a little tighter against the ground as the guard passed by. As soon as the enemy was out of sight around the building, Sasuke was moving, ghosting forward in the shadow of a passing cloud and straight up the side of the wooden tower. The logical place to put prisoners was in the basement, but this structure had been constructed specifically for the Exams. It was possible but unlikely that the proctors had taken the trouble to build a basement.

Of course 'unlikely' was for posers. Real ninja were certain that there was no basement, because they took advantage of the fact that one of their teammates was the adopted son of the Hokage in order to steal the blueprints before the Exams even started. (He carefully suppressed the surge of irritation at how pleased Sakura had been to think of that before Sasuke did.)

Pushing aside the distracting thoughts of soft pink hair and clever— Pushing aside the distracting thoughts, Sasuke climbed the last few inches and peeked up over the edge of the roof.

And cursed.

Okay, seriously? Why in the everloving fuck were there two guards up here? It was too dark and the woods too close for them to be terribly useful as sentries, so—

Oh, Sage's balls. The Old Man must have realized that they'd stolen the blueprints and dropped a hint to the enemy as an equalizer. Die in a fire, you obnoxious old bastard.

Screw this. The Red Team wasn't obliged to keep the prisoners 'alive' beyond a certain point, and he wasn't sure how long they would wait. Time to show these losers what it meant to face an Uchiha.

The guards were slow and stupid; they didn't hear him coming until he was on top of them. He started a straight kick to the first enemy's back, intending to fling the boy right off the roof so there would be only one opponent to deal with, at which point—

Sasuke stifled an unworthy-of-an-Uchiha yelp and aborted his attack when his target, a tall redhead from Rock, launched a vicious no-look mule kick while simultaneously shouting "Intruders on the roof!" Sasuke barely managed to twist away from the kick, catching a painful but not disabling impact on the outside of his thigh. The redheaded pleb didn't seem to understand that he was dealing with the Prince of the Uchiha; Sasuke conveyed this information in the politest way that a hammerfist to the back of the head could manage. It knocked the taller boy to the ground, but he turned the fall into a (somewhat shaky) leg sweep intended less to cause damage and more to keep Sasuke occupied for a moment while the Rock ninja shook off the blow and got his feet under him. Sasuke contemptuously jumped over the sweep and started an axe kick that would snap the idiot's knee in half and—

"Kyaa!"

Oh, for fuck's sake. He'd momentarily lost sight of the second Rock ninja and now he had to pay the price as a punch materialized out of nowhere and crashed into his side, accompanied by an actual attack cry. An attack cry?! Really?! Well, apparently it was true what they said: 'Rock' didn't refer to their homeland, it referred to the contents of their heads. Yelling as you attacked was an insane thing for a shinobi to do, and would have had every taijutsu instructor at the Leaf Academy crying in their drinks if one of their students had done it.

He rode the blow, accepting a bruised rib in exchange for the chance to slam a side kick into the little idiot's chin. The impact lifted the Rock ninja off the ground and threw him a couple yards; he hit the ground hard, an unmoving lump with a shattered jaw that would need serious attention from the medics if he was ever going to eat solid food again.

The Red Menace was back on his feet and moving forward, still a little wobbly but with his hands up. He started a fast left hook but Sasuke leaned back away from the punch and popped a toe kick into his attacker's hip before the punch could get fully underway. The kick was rushed and there was no power in it, but it sufficed to make the bastard stumble a little, thereby defusing the attack. More importantly, it opened the enemy's guard so that Sasuke could move in for a vicious knee-and-elbow combination that bruised the liver and shattered the collarbone. The Rock ninja hit the ground with a gratifying thump and didn't move.

Sasuke sighed. The shouts and the multiple impacts on the 'ground'—really the roof of the building—must have attracted attention. On the bright side, there were two opponents down out of...nine? Twelve? Fifteen? Rock had a major presence at the Chūnin Exams this year, and Sasuke didn't know how many of them would have been assigned to the Red Team for this exercise. Especially if the Old Man was feeling peevish at Naruto for stealing his blueprints and was deciding to take a little not-all-that-subtle-really revenge.

Well, whatever, he couldn't hear anyone charging up to kill him so he probably had a couple minutes. He looked around to see what he had to work with. The roof was wide and flat except for the small 'hut' in the center where the stairs debouched. There were a few pebbles and sticks, probably dropped here by birds...speaking of which, that wasn't all the birds had dropped, and he'd just fought his way across a generous pile. Eew.

He scraped the soles of his sandals repeatedly across the roof, accomplishing very little. Fortunately, the pants of Mook #2 (as he had mentally tagged the chubby one) proved more absorbent.

No longer distracted by the awareness that he was walking around with gooey, sticking bird poop on his feet, Sasuke turned his attention back to the question of getting into the building. Going down the stairs was definitely not the way to go, so—

The door to the stairwell burst open and a Rock ninja came racing out, naked sword in hand and head swiveling as she looked for her target. Another followed on her heels, and pounding footsteps on the stairs behind that one muttered glumly about reinforcements seconds away.

Of course, the Lord of the Clan Uchiha would never panic. That was beneath him. Still, Sasuke did feel that perhaps this would be a good time to move quickly. And hit hard. Or run away. Yes, running away might be good. No, wait. The Lord of the Clan Uchiha did not run away, he relocated the engagement to more advantageous terrain. Yes. Still, before trying to relocate, he should probably do something about the goons on the roof with him.

Reaching deep into his soul, Sasuke called out to the power of his blood, invoking the strength that had made his ancestors the most feared clan in the Elemental Nations. It roared forth, racing eagerly to his call like a hunting cat straining at the lead. A burning pressure swept through his eyes and the world slowed around him as the Sharingan activated.

The first Rock ninja was barely three steps out of the stairwell and currently looking seventy-three degrees away from Sasuke, her head tracking oh-so-slowly to the right to find her target. The second ninja wasn't even fully outside—the open door was blocking Sasuke's line of sight, but the bottom edge of the door was a few inches above the roof, and the ninja-sandal-clad foot that was visible below the door revealed its owner's position: back foot still inside the stairwell, front foot about to touch on the roof outside, in the process of shifting his weight onto the front leg.

The Sharingan (or, at least, the level of it that Sasuke had thus far unlocked) did not actually enhance the user's speed. Instead, it accelerated his mental faculties, giving him plenty of time to measure angles, study the opposition, plan his attacks, and place them exactly where they would do the most good. It also suppressed emotions, allowing for clear and logical evaluations unimpeded by the stress of battle. In point of fact, it made the whole process of moving around tedious, since your mind seemed to be moving at normal speed while your body was swimming through treacle. It was even more tedious when you needed to cross twenty feet of roof while lugging a hundred and eighteen pounds of tubby mook with birdshit on his pants.

The Sharingan did not grant strength, but it gave you the time to use what you had most effectively. Sasuke looked down to verify his feet were placed exactly right, checked the position of his body, breathed in...and hurled the unconscious Rock ninja at the open door to the stairwell. It slammed back on its frame like a flail smashing into the threshing stone; the ninja who had been coming through it was knocked back inside with a startled yelp. Just as calculated, the body of the fat Rock idiot (a bit of redundancy there) slumped against the door, keeping it closed.

That left only one opponent on the roof with him, and she was suddenly up in his face, lunging for him so fast that she seemed to be half-speed sparring instead of crawling through space like an arthritic snail. Her sword whistled down in a perfect diagonal cut that would have bisected him from left collarbone to right hip if she'd done it with full force. Her timing and distance were perfect; he wasn't going to be able to swim through the treacle fast enough to evade the cut.

So he didn't.

Only the edge of a sword is dangerous; Sasuke reached out and placed his hand on the flat of her blade as it came down, pressing it gently aside. His snail-slow body barely managed it, and only the unnatural calm imposed by the Sharingan kept him from panicking at how close it came.

Still, it did miss and the Sharingan did keep him calm. Calm enough that he was able to step forward and smash both fists into her eyes as she completed her strike. That put him close enough that when the door bumped outwards with the force of the ninja inside attempting to force it open, he was in position to kick it shut again. It wasn't necessary; Fatty was doing a much better job as a doorstop than he had as a ninja.

He continued the momentum of his initial attack, stepping past her and smashing her in the back of the head on the way. The blow was hurried and not placed correctly because the infuriating woman saw what he was doing and was actually fast enough to start spinning her sword around behind herself such that if he'd placed the hit properly he would have cut his hand in half. Still, it rocked her offbalance and in perfect position for— No, damnit, she just dove forward into a roll and came up back at her perfect range. Sage's nose hairs, why couldn't this woman have been born in Leaf? She was taller than he was, with defined muscles, callouses on her hands, and hair cut in a pragmatically short style that was utterly unlike all the civilian girls (and even some of the kunoichi!) who liked to throw themselves at him. If she could think half as well as she could fight it might even be interesting to talk with her...maybe after he punched her lights out he should see about finding her later?

Eh, whatever. Focus on punching her lights out first. The power of the Sharingan was burning in his eyes, his nerves, his blood, making him feel as though his body was on fire even as it buoyed him up on an unstoppable wave of power. He calmed it, twined his chakra into cords with which he bridled his bloodline and reined it back, forcing it to spend its force as he directed instead of as it willed. And then he gathered that power, blurred forward past the enemy's feeble attempts at a block, and smashed a palm strike into the girl's solar plexus so hard that for a moment he honestly thought she was going to fly off the roof. Fortunately, her unconscious body bounced to a stop a good six feet short of the edge.

There were repeated impacts on the door now. He couldn't make out the words, but there seemed to be at least three different voices and footfall patterns just inside the stairwell. Tubby wasn't going to keep that closed more than a few seconds, and even with the Sharingan Sasuke wasn't sanguine about his chances of fighting his way down a narrow staircase packed with enemies.

Time to get creative. He allowed the Sharingan to slip away from him; his bloodline was about precision and efficiency, which was the exact opposite of how the next few minutes were going to go.

He snatched a pad of storage seals out of one pocket and a pad of explosives out of the other and slapped one explosive on the roof a few yards from the staircase. It took only a moment to prime it, another second to unseal a big slab of iron on top of it, and then he backed away. The explosion sent the massive chunk of metal leaping into the sky like a scalded cat, but its weight sufficed to direct most of the force down, blowing a hole straight through the heavy timbers of the roof. He jumped into the hole, already pulling out another explosive/storage seal pair.

o-o-o-o​

"Sakura?" he called softly.

There was a moment of near-palpable surprise and then Sakura's voice hissed from the third door on the left. "Sasuke? In here!"

He hurried to her door and slid the hatch back. The familiar (and, as expected, angry) face of his pink-haired teammate was waiting on the other side.

"What took you so long? I can't believe you left me stuck in here with him!"

"Yo, Sasuke!" came the (as expected) chipper voice of his other teammate. "Life treating you okay, Sourpuss?"

"Eh," Sasuke said, crouching down to inspect the lock. He hadn't found keys, which was a problem. The door was thick and heavily constructed with good steel for the lock and the fittings. He had some small explosives that would theoretically block the lock out without killing everyone inside, but a lot of prison cells had doors that were....

He sighed and stood up. "Door's trapped. There's explosives in the lock that will kill everyone nearby, and there's likely more of the same in the door itself. Probably dummied up for the Exams, but it will still count as a kill if they go off."

"Keys?" Sakura asked, her tone making it a chastisement instead of a question.

"I was a little busy on the way in," Sasuke said defensively. "Seriously, I put down four of them, then blasted my way through three floors to find you guys. I blocked some of the holes behind me with junk I had in storage, but they'll be here any second. Can't you guys get out on your own?"

"We could," Sakura said, glaring at her blond teammate. "If someone weren't feeling lazy."

"Hey, I had to give Sourpuss a chance to show off, right?"

The hatch in the door was small and Sakura was blocking his line of sight to Naruto, but the sound of the other boy's voice told Sasuke everything he needed to know about Naruto's expression: that same insufferable, irritatingly engaging grin that always eventually led to a trip to the Hokage's Office.

"Seriously, Naruto?" Sakura said, hands on her hips and fire glaring from her eyes. "This is the Exams! Stop clowning around!"

"Hey, I was unconscious! They drugged me!"

"Damnit, Naruto," Sasuke said. "It pains me to say this, but Pinky is right. As freakishly fast as you heal, I'm sure whatever they gave you wore off five minutes after they put you in there."

"Did not! I only just woke up!"

"Liar!" Sakura said. "You've been awake for half an hour!"

"No I—"

"Enough, children!" Sasuke snapped, as the first squad of enemies came around the corner fifteen feet away. "Argue later, fight now!"

Sakura was jostled aside as Naruto's face suddenly appeared at the hatch. The blond was obviously having to stand on tiptoe and crane his neck to be able to set eyes on the corridor.

"Mass Shadow Clone no Jutsu!" His teammate's voice had thankfully lost its bantering tone, because Sasuke wasn't sure how much more of 'playful Naruto' he could stand under the circumstances. Although, granted, those circumstances were made much less stressful by the appearance of a trio of short, stocky blond ninja in the hall between himself and the enemy.

Each of the three Narutos cut a handseal and shouted, "Mass Shadow Clone no Jutsu!" A dozen more appeared, packing the corridor all the way to the corner and leaving the trio of Red Team ninja helplessly pinned under a mass of clone pseudo-flesh. From the corner three copies of Naruto's voice said, "Mass Shadow Clone no Jutsu!" Startled yelps and thumps suggested that enemy reinforcements were no longer a concern.

"So, about those keys," Sakura said calmly. "Any chance you could go find them? This scenario is scheduled to run another two hours, so if at some point someone could think about letting me out of this cell so that I can interrogate these losers then we could find where their flag is and wrap up two events at once. Although, if you boys would like to sit and compliment each other on how amazing you are instead, that's fine too."

Sasuke sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Give me a minute." Grumbling, he started moving down the hall systematically, searching each prisoner as he went. After all, someone had to do all the actual work.