Taming Your Demon (Sealing Series Part I)

Respectfully, Senpai

Sasuke steadied his feet on the murky blue surface of the water. The lake was large enough that it extended west beyond the horizon and split the forest for miles on either side. Large portions were obscured by a thick mist, which continued to gather at the dark water's edge after the beast was raised. The mist swirled and crept over the lake's surface but was obstructed from coming closer as Sasuke and his team restrained the three tails. He hated to think what that mist could do if it ever reached them.

Another massive tidal wave rolled toward Sasuke from the enormous and very agitated armored beast facing him. He braced himself again and skillfully surfed the tsunami.

This plan was not going as smoothly as he had hoped. But Orochimaru's constant taunting and Sasuke's unchecked arrogance would not permit failure. The three tailed beast was going to be his... no matter what.

Isobu, who appeared to be an awkward cross between a mutated spiked crab, a turtle, and an octopus, was immobilized again, but it was visibly straining against its invisible bindings. The beast had already managed to overpower the control of the little boy Yukimaru's siren call and Sasuke's sharingan. It had broken through Guren's crystal prison and created a shockwave that knocked them all back with several powerful tidal waves.

Sabui's byakugan seemed to be able to pacify the bijuu for the moment. But would it last? How had that Hyuga girl managed to so easily tame a fiercer beast like the nine tailed demon? Because she already had a relationship with its jinchuuriki and the three tails was free and wild?

Right after his encounter with Kurama, Naruto, and Hinata at Orochimaru's hideout, Sasuke sent Sabui to infiltrate Konoha. He wanted the boy to spy and steal the secret to the Hyuga's power over Kurama. The one piece of intel that Sasuke gained from this mission was that he needed a binding seal to gain full use of Sabui's ability to tame the tailed beast.

Sasuke searched for months through Orochimaru's most taboo and forbidden jutsu, but he could find nothing about binding seals. After he uncovered the location of the one bijou without a jinchuuriki, he managed to finally convince his mentor that he had the ability to capture the three tails before the Akatskui and that "man" got to it. He could not allow his treacherous brother to have any more power and he wanted the power for himself.

Luckily, Orochimaru's butt kissing shadow, Kabuto Yakushi, had been away for a couple of months. It gave him just enough to time to sell his plan to his mentor. Orochimaru had wanted a tailed beast for himself for awhile, anyway. And the idea of sticking it to the Akatsuki by taking the three tails first made Orochimaru gleeful. For some unknown reason, Orochimaru's hatred of that organization may have even outmatched Sasuke's hatred for one particular member of said organization. So it was not too hard to sway the power hungry sannin.

Sasuke just hoped that his collected team would be enough to take down the beast, but he had doubts from the very beginning. Now he was certain it would be much easier if he could have just gotten his hands on a damn binding seal. They needed the full power of Sabui's dojutsu.

"Did you dispel the clone?" Sasuke looked over at his very frail and hunched over comrade.

"Yes, Senpai."

Sasuke was not sure why he bothered to ask. Sabui always did everything he asked him to do without hesitation. The young man's blind loyalty was useful, but it also grated on Sasuke's nerves. No one should ever be naive enough to just follow without question.

"Try trapping it again." Sasuke instructed the crystal style user, Guren.

"That only agitated it last time, and..." She stopped her intended argument, as she encountered the impassive look on Sasuke's face. Guren's place on this team was unreliable. So far she had stuck to the plan, but she was only driven by the promise that Sasuke would help her and her little brother, Yukimaru, escape from Orochimaru's clutches if she helped him capture the bijuu. Sasuke had no intention of keeping that promise and it was unclear if Guren realized that yet or not. "Fine."