He didn't stumble, not really; shinobi was as much in the marrow as built through training in some ways, and Sasuke only stepped back. The packed earth beneath his shoe gave, soaked through with blood already, and the yellow light traced out features with a strange, soft glow. The boy had looked Sasuke straight in the eye, in the moment when Sasuke had still been figuring out what had happened, and --

His hand was on his teacher's wrist without thinking about it, Sasuke looking up at him with a desperate plea written in his face, uncontrollable:

"Please," he said, and wasn't sure what he was asking for -- "There must be -- sensei, please."