Drifting by AlphaDelta1001

Part 15 - Getting Back on Track

Drifting

Getting Back on Track

Back on the bridge...

On his hands and knees and sweating profusely, Naruto breathed in and out heavily as he attempted to recover from the strongest Jet Hand technique he'd ever performed. While the normal ones he'd used countless times before in the past had been easy and carried a small amount of energy behind them, the charged one he just executed a few minutes ago was able to send his opponent into temporary supersonic flight. No matter how you looked at it, that was in no way an easy thing to pull off, even for him. The amount of chakra he had to unload to carry his target the distance he intended and across the country at that speed, had taken a sizable chunk out of his reserves.

He almost went completely orange for a moment.

While Naruto had tons of chakra in his tank to burn, not only was this his first time using his unique jutsu on such a scale, he was also still recovering from serious injury, he'd had to move at his fastest speed just to get close to the bastard to execute it, he'd had to avoid his weapon and block him to create an opening, and it had also been the most terrifying thing he'd ever done. The chances of the attack actually being successful with such a small window of opportunity had been roughly fifty/fifty, so it had also been a wild gamble.

Hidan could have chosen to run. If he hadn't been so shocked at having his curse ritual cut off and stubborn enough to hold his ground against his attackers, whom he had greatly underestimated, then the whole plan would have fallen to pieces. That man was seriously strong and scary to get up close with. Naruto was only grateful he'd had Haku there to help him out.

They'd made one hell of a team.

After watching the speck on the horizon that was his opponent vanish and the vapor trail start to disperse, Naruto pushed himself to his feet and slowly made his way back over to the group and the downed Zabuza.

While walking, the blonde stumbled upon the triple-bladed scythe wielded by their opponent lying in the pool of water covering the bridge not too far from where he'd been launched. Easily spotting it from the glare of the sun reflecting off of its menacing blades, the jinchuriki strolled over to its position and looked down at it with momentary interest.

Picking it up, Naruto got a feel for the weight of the weapon and inspected it from base to tip. At first he thought about taking this thing for himself as a souvenir of his battle here. However, knowing that it had been held by the worst possible human being he had ever laid eyes on and the very same person that attacked Haku's teacher and him in the must inhuman way possible, he soon found himself unable to look at it any longer. All it reminded him of was that man's retched grin and cruel eyes.

Gripping the handle of it tightly, Naruto looked around once before, cocking it back and taking aim, threw the weapon out over the ocean. As heavy as it was, the blonde was still able to hurl it further than any kunai he'd ever thrown, where he then watched it plunge into the channel and sink to the bottom of the causeway, never to be seen again.

Satisfied knowing that all traces of that man were gone, Naruto gave an affirmative nod and the smallest of smiles, before quickly jogging staggeringly over to where Haku and the others were. All exhaustion from his previous attack was wiped clear from him and replaced with boundless energy once more, which carried him, limping, over to his comrades' sides.

When he arrived, he found Haku kneeling beside Zabuza alongside Isaribi, with the former desperately trying to fix the man up and cover his wounds. Looking down at the blood the Jonin still had pooling out onto the floor and the amount of damage he'd taken, Naruto knew that out of all of them the missing nin got hit the worst.