Third Person's POV
Tsunade slept peacefully on top of the pile of papers and documents she was supposed to work on. It was interrupted when a knock came from the door waking Tsunade, the door opened revealing Kotetsu and Izumo holding a pile of documents. Tsunade sat up straight, held out a hand and a tired smile
"Good work!" she said in the best tone she could for a person who's awake. The two noticed the marked letters and drool on Tsunade's face making Kotetsu complain about how she was sleeping while they had to get the documents for her. She only laughed nervously in return.
Izumo peeked his head from the pile he held so Tsunade could see him.
"More importantly Hokage-sama, there's something we want to report to you" Izumo said, Tsunade wiped her drool as she asked
"What is it?" Izumo proceeded to explain about what they heard from Sakura. That Sasuke left the village to go to Orochimaru.
"What? Is this true?" she asked as she stood up abruptly
"Yes. According to Haruno Sakura, it appears that there's no mistake" Izumo confirmed. 'To think that they're already on the move...' she thought as she remembered Orochimaru's offer and condition, concluding that Orochimaru wanted Sasuke for the Uchiha clan's powers. Tsunade sat back down as she thought for a bit, she looked up with a serious face
"Izumo! Kotetsu! Bring Nara Shikamaru here!" she ordered.
In a while, Shikamaru arrived before Tsunade. She told him the details of the situation and assigned it to him as his first mission as a newly appointed Chunin. Because the Jonin and Chunin Shinobis are on other missions, Shikamaru has no choice but to form a team with Genin.
"Within the next 30 minutes, I want you to gather all the Genin you consider the best and leave the village for the mission!" she ordered. Shikamaru turned to leave but stopped before the door
"It's a drag but I know the guy so I just can't let the matter go" he said. Tsunade smirked as she looked at Shikamaru
"There's one guy I want to recommend" she said smiling.
Shikamaru went to Naruto's apartment since he is the Shinobi Tsunade recommended. Naruto was just getting ready to have his early morning training while Kurama was giving him a lecture for the training, he looked at the door as he sensed a familiar chakra signature.
"It's the Nara brat" Kurama said as Naruto tightened his forehead protector and ran to the door. Shikamaru was about to knock on the door when Naruto opened it
"Oh? Morning Shikamaru!" he greeted actively
"Yeah..." he said, he wasn't expecting to see Naruto ready for the day so he was a bit surprised
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, Shikamaru then explained the situation.
"What?! You've gotta be kidding me!" Naruto yelled as Shikamaru covered his ear with his finger
"You're such a drag early in the morning" he said. He then looked at Naruto as he wondered why Tsunade recommended him to join the team for bringing Sasuke back. Naruto was thinking as he clenched his fist, 'That jerk. He actually did something stupid!' Naruto yelled in his head as Kurama only sighed,
"You should really be careful with your words Naruto" he said. Naruto went back in to grab a few extra scrolls with him to keep his weapons, shoved them on his pouch and went back out with Shikamaru to get the others.
They went to the Akimichi residence to get Choji, coincidentally Kiba was taking Akamaru on a walk. Although their first option was Shino, he was unavailable for he was on a special mission with his father so Kiba will do. They were on their way to the main entrance on the village and encountered Neji and Lee. Shikamaru explained to them about the situation and he asked Neji to join them, Lee had a sad look on his face because he wanted to join but he just got out of surgery. Regardless, he tells Neji not to worry about him and encourages the five Shinobi.
The five Shinobi gather at the main entrance, with Lee watching them. Naruto clenched his fist as he positioned himself to be ready to run
"Alright! Let's go!" he yelled as he started to run, but was pulled back by Kiba.
"Oi! What are you doing acting like you're the boss?" Kiba asked as Naruto fixed his jacket and mumbled curse words. Neji turned to Shikamaru
"What's the plan?" he asked. Shikamaru then explained to them their formation and what they'll do if ever there'll be enemy Shinobi. As he explained, Lee praised Shikamaru in his mind for being able to formulate a plan with Shinobi he just assembled.
"Any questions? If not then I want to tell you the most important thing last" Shikamaru said as the four Shinobi listened intently.
"Sasuke and I aren't close friends. In fact, I don't particularly like him" Shikamaru started
"However, he is also a Shinobi belonging to Konohagakure. He is a comrade. Therefore, I will put my life on the line to help him! That's the way of Konoha" Shikamaru continued
"In this case, even I can't just sit back and be a sluggard. Because I am responsible for your lives" Shikamaru said as the others smiled upon Shikamaru's attitude as a Chunin. They all took out their ninja tools to have it checked, once they were done they departed but were stopped by a familiar voice.
"Wait!" the voice called, they all turned to see Sakura with sad eyes
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said upon seeing her
"I heard the whole story from Hokage-sama. I'm sorry but I can't take you along on this mission" Shikamaru said
"Even you weren't able to convince Sasuke right?" Shikamaru said as Naruto widened his eyes, 'Sakura-chan tried to stop him?' he asked in his mind
"All that can be done now is for us to use force to convince him. Sakura, your role in this has ended" he said bluntly, Naruto looked at Sakura as tears started to fall from her eyes. She trembled as her head hung low.
"Naruto... this is a... once in a lifetime request...! Please bring... please bring Sasuke-kun back!" she pleaded
"I couldn't do it! I wasn't able to stop Sasuke-kun! At this point, the only person who would be able to stop Sasuke-kun... who would be able to save him... is you... Naruto" she added.
Naruto lowered his gaze and formed a sad smile as he can tell that Sakura really wanted Sasuke to come back. He closed his eyes then replaced the sad smile with a grin as he looked at Sakura
"You like Sasuke so much, don't you Sakura-chan?" he asked as Sakura looked at him
"I understand to my very core how painful it must be for you right now Sakura-chan" Naruto said. Sakura then thought about how she didn't like Naruto at first and considered him as an annoying person, she then held herself as she continued to cry, trying her best to hold it in.
Naruto gave her a thumbs up along with a big smile, imitating the Nice Guy pose.
"I'll bring Sasuke back without fail! I promise that on my life! Believe it!" he declared. Sakura continued to cry as she thought, 'You always understood me... you always helped me...'. Naruto was trying to hide his trembling hand, feeling pain from knowing that he never had a chance with Sakura for her feelings for Sasuke were strong. In his mindscape, Kurama only patted Naruto's head and wrapped a tail around him for comfort.
"Oi, oi Naruto! You sure you're gonna be okay with saying that kind of thing?!" Kiba asked as Naruto smirked at him
"Heh! I won't go back on my word! That's my way of the Ninja!" he said proudly, he then punched the air
"Alright! Let's hurry up and go!" Naruto said
"We've lost a little time, let's hurry!" Shikamaru said as the five headed out to save the Uchiha. In Naruto's mindscape, Kurama asked his host
"Are you sure you can bring the Uchiha brat back?" Kurama asked
"I know I can. I believe I'm strong enough to be able to do that. So watch over me Kurama!" Naruto said as he looked back at the large fox, who only smirked in reply.
With the help of Kiba and Akamaru's nose, they started heading towards the direction to where Sasuke went. At a certain distance, Naruto used a sensory jutsu and was able to sense not only Sasuke's but four other chakra signature's as well. He concluded that they are Orochimaru's subordinates and he could tell that they are strong, he grew worried if his comrades would be able to fight them but all he could do now is have faith in them.
The Sound Ninja Four stopped at a certain point and rested giving them a chance to ambush them. But it failed since they weren't aware of a trap that gave away their presence. They had a small ninjutsu contest until Shikamaru's squad was engulfed with an earth dome jutsu, the Sound Four used this chance to continue their journey and one of them, Jirobo, decided to stay behind so he can recover his chakra and follow them fast. As the three left with the coffin, Jirobo started his work of sucking up the chakra of the squad within the dome.
The squad is getting weaker by the moment, but it didn't stop Shikamaru from his plan. With his intructions, he was able to confirm a way out of the dome. Choji then did his jutsu and rolled to the part of the dome farthest from the jutsu caster and finally got out, the dome broke as the squad appeared with smirks on their faces. Sasuke was getting away and they were running out of time, Choji volunteered to stay behind to stop Jirobo and demanded the others to go ahead. Everyone placed their faith on Choji then left, with a promise that he wins and catches up with them. As they progress through the forest of the Land of Fire, the squad gets closer to the coffin with the Sound Four and everytime they reach them, one always stays behind to fight for the others to move on. This time, it was Kidomaru who stayed and his opponent is Neji. Now only Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba and Akamaru are left to pursue the Uchiha.
The sun has set and night has come, Orochimaru's vessel hasn't arrived and with that, he decides to send someone to bring him his new vessel.
The next day has come and the remaining Sound Four proceed to their destination, they stop at a tree branch to turn and see the remaining of the squad right behind them. Sakon jumped to attack and Naruto threw a single kunai but missed. As Sakon closed in, Kiba and Shikamaru took the hit of his punches as Naruto prepared a Rasengan. Shikamaru and Kiba disappeared, revealing that they were actually Naruto's clones in a transformation jutsu, he purposely withdrew the chakra from his palm as Sakon caught it, making him believe that he was able to stop him. Kiba's Gatsuuga came from behind and hit Naruto, who appears to be a Shadow Clone, but Sakon ducked to dodge. Kiba was actually aiming for Tayuya with the coffin and before she could do anything, a shadow stretched to her very own forcing her movements to a halt. She did her best to look at the side to see Shikamaru with his Kagamane jutsu, Kiba then swiftly grabbed the coffin while Sakon jumped after it, with Shikamaru moving forward then quickly releasing the jutsu, Sakon ended up hitting Tayuya. Kiba passed the coffin to Naruto and the three made their way back to Konoha. Furious with the current outcome, both Tayuya and Sakon's cursed seal spread through their body as they went after the squad.
Naruto was glad, he restrained himself from acting on his own and listened to Shikamaru. He was internally celebrating when Sakon caught up to them, Kiba and Akamaru fought with Sakon when in the heat of battle, an explosive tag went off causing Kiba, Akamaru, and even Sakon to fall to a crack on the ground. Before they could check on their teammate, Tayuya caught up, Shikamaru decided to fight her so Naruto can go ahead to the village and send help. Suddenly, Naruto stopped, then Tayuya and Shikamaru, as a new face landed on the coffin and took it with him.
Naruto clicked his tongue, 'Just when I thought that things were going smoothly!' he ranted in his head
"That's why I told you to be prepared for the unexpected, whenever you-" Kurama was about to start a lecture when Naruto cut him off,
"Not right now Kurama!" Naruto gritted his teeth as he went to attack the newly introduced Kimimaro, he quickly passed by him as he made his way to Orochimaru's lair. Naruto clicked his tongue again,
"Shikamaru! After dealing with her, go find the others then get help from the village!" he yelled,
"Huh?" Shikamaru said as Naruto left him behind wondering why Naruto gave him orders when it should've been the other way around.
Kimimaro was fast but Naruto was able to catch up to him. They both ended up in an open field, miles away from the Land of Fire's border. Naruto threw a kunai, aiming for Kimimaro's shoulder but he dodged and deflected it with his foot, just as the kunai closed in on Naruto's eyes he was quick enough to move aside for the kunai to hit the tree meters behind him. They stood face to face as the wind passed by and made the grass sway, Naruto looked at the coffin where Sasuke is kept then at Kimimaro who was holding the coffin.
"Oi! You, uh... what's his name again?" Naruto whispered the last part as Kurama face palmed
"Kimimaro"
"Right" he muttered as he cleared his throat to try again,
"Kimimaro! I need that coffin" Naruto said,
"I happen to need the coffin too" he replied
"Sasuke is coming back to the village" Naruto insisted
"He is needed as Orochimaru-sama's vessel" Kiminaro countered. This made Naruto angry, he cracked his knuckles then charged at Kimimaro taking out a kunai in the process. He was aiming for his torso but was blocked by Kimimaro's arm, Naruto went wide-eyed as he sees his opponent's weapon of choice to be his own bone. He jumped back and confirmed that it was actually his own bones. That's when Kimimaro put the coffin down and displayed a bone from his other arm making Naruto sweat drop
"Okay, what the heck is that?!" Naruto asked as Kimimaro charged.
"The two red spots on his forehead means that he's part of the Kaguya clan" Kurama then started explaining about the clan's unique Kekkei Genkai of using their own bones as weapons. Naruto found the ability cool and dangerous as he kept on dodging bone attacks and countering bones. Naruto took a quick glance at the coffin and noticed a kind of black smoke seeping out of the coffin, he attempted to get near the coffin but was blocked by Kimimaro, he then made Shadow Clones as a distraction while he gets to the coffin. But Kimimaro would ignore the Naruto's fighting him and go after the Naruto near the coffin. He clicked his tongue as he continued to fight. 'Damn it! I can't get close to the coffin unless I deal with this guy!' he thought.
The fight lasted for a few minutes until he noticed the leak of the smoke getting stronger, the seals tore off as the coffin exploded. This forced the two to stop their fight as debris from the coffin scattered and the smoke slowly dissipated to reveal Sasuke, he looked fine and Naruto was relieved to see that. He let out a big laugh as he put his hands on his hips,
"Sasuke! What're you doing with these guys?! Come on! Let's go home now!" Naruto exclaimed, Sasuke didn't listen to him as he started chuckling to himself, he smiled sinisterly as he laughed more and dashed away to the border of the Land of Fire.
"Sasuke!" he yelled, Kimimaro quickly went behind him sharp bone ready. Naruto let his guard down for a moment and he instantly regretted it, but then Kimimaro was kicked away. He swiftly landed on the ground and looked up to see who did the deed.
"Who're you?" Kimimaro asked, Naruto's eyes widened in glee as the newly arrived comrade made his stance
"Konoha's Handsome Devil Rock Lee!" he declared. Stars appeared in Naruto's eyes but he shook it away and replaced it with a worried look.
"What are you doing here? Didn't you just got out of surgery or something?" Naruto asked in worry
"Thar's not important right now Naruto-kun, you have to go after Sasuke-kun" Lee said
"But Bushy Brows..."
"Please leave this person to me" Lee said. After a bit of doubt, Naruto decided to have faith in Lee, as he was about to leave he told Lee about Kimimaro's abilities then left.
He went after Sasuke. In one moment he's in sight then the next he's not. He clicked his tongue as he boosted himself from a branch for a great leap.
"That Sasuke! He's starting to piss me off!" Naruto said angrily as he boosted himself again, Kurama only sighed at his vessel's complaint.
"Tell me about it" he said. Naruto is slowly catching up to Sasuke, he tried calling out to him a few times but it remained in vain since the Uchiha ignored him as if he didn't exist. This is slowly draining Naruto's patience but Kurama told him to remain calm for his outburst could affect the mission greatly. In a while, Naruto found himself outside of the forest in a rocky terrain. He looked around for a bit then found the Uchiha making his way up the rocks. He huffed as he followed in pursuit. They went up to a waterfall between two large statues, Naruto looked at the waterfall in awe but shook that away telling himself to appreciate the scenery some other time. He finally reached the top of the large statue while Sasuke stood on the other one. He inhaled and exhaled to catch his breath then yelled.
"SASUKE!"
Sasuke stepped forward to continue his travel but stopped when Naruto yelled,
"ARE YOU GOING TO RUN AWAY FROM ME?!" the young Uchiha turned to Naruto, revealing the pattern of the Curse Mark that took over half of his face with a different eye color.
"Yo... usuratonkachi" he greeted.
"It's just you, huh? I already told this to Sakura but don't mind me anymore" he said. Naruto looked at him angrily which made Sasuke laugh,
"What's with that look?" he sneered. Naruto asked him why, Sasuke told him that he's done fooling around with them and told Naruto to go home. Naruto told Sasuke about how everyone cared about him and how there were those who risked their lives for him but Sasuke didn't care, he turned to leave and his attitude made Naruto's blood boil. He leaped off the ground towards Sasuke, who noticed his approaching shadow and turned. Naruto landed on top of him and without hesitation, punched him. He gripped Sasuke's shirt as he clenched his teeth,
"How dare you say that about your own comrades!" Naruto yelled, Sasuke spat out blood
"Comrades you say... Did I become stronger staying with those so-called comrades?" Sasuke muttered. Naruto shouted at him, that Orochimaru is using him as a vessel, that he might end up dying in the end. But Sasuke didn't care, he wanted the power to defeat the man who massacred his clan, and the only way to do that is to go to Orochimaru. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's collar and slowly lifted him, standing up in the process and making an attempt to choke Naruto. He let him go and quickly gave him a punch in the gut, with a few ribs cracking Naruto spat out blood as he plummeted to the water before the waterfall. Sasuke felt a bit of pain as the pattern retracted back to the Curse Mark, he only laughed as he enjoyed the feeling of power.
Watching from inside, Kurama's anger slowly came to him as he watched his Jinchūriki get hurt by some Uchiha brat. He growled as his chakra started acting up.
Naruto slowly sunk. The pain in his gut slowly getting to him. 'Kurama...' he thought but stopped himself. He thought about not relying too much on him and didn't want to disturb Kurama now believing that he was sleeping, he put his hand atop of his stomach and slowly healed himself. 'I wish I asked Tsunade obaa-chan for more advice' he thought as he finished healing himself. He swam up and jumped out of the water, landing on its surface with chakra.
He furrowed his brows as he jumped up to the top of the statue once more, Sasuke went down and stretched his leg to land a kick. Naruto blocked the attack with his arms crossed and was sent down to the end of the waterfall. He landed with both of his feet filled with chakra to stand on the surface of the water, Sasuke dropped down with the pattern no longer present. Naruto gripped his fist as he glared at Sasuke,
"I'll take you back to the village, even if I have to force you" Naruto said. Sasuke only smirked as he charged at Naruto. He threw a few shuriken as Naruto moved to the side to dodge, the shuriken was actually controlled by wire controlled from Sasuke's hands and it surrounded Naruto's legs restricting his movement. Sasuke pulled the wire towards him dragging Naruto, who quickly took a kunai and cut off the wires to free himself. He jumped back and threw kunais and shuriken which Sasuke deflected and dodged, some of them heading to Naruto's direction. Naruto found a nearby log, grabbed it and used it as a shield. He tossed the log aside and went wide-eyed as Sasuke appeared and aimed for a kick which Naruto dodged. They exchanged a series of punches and kicks, dodging, blocking, taking their battles to shore and water. They curled their fist and with all their strength, their punches collided. The two jumped back and stood at the tip of a log of their own, balancing with their chakra so the log stays afloat and they stay on top. They glared at each other for a moment as if taking a break from the fight and preparing themselves for the next move.
A memory suddenly flashed through Sasuke's mind,
"Naruto, you said you wanted to fight me right?" he asked, Naruto raised a brow for the sudden question since they were already fighting but decided to answer it.
"I did" he answered.
"So why aren't you taking it seriously?" Sasuke said making Naruto confused,
"Huh?" was all he could say.
"I noticed from how you fought. You're not even going all out, weren't you going to take me by force?" Sasuke pointed out as he recalled their battle just mere moments ago.
"I don't want to hurt you Sasuke" Naruto said,
"If you don't fight me seriously then you have no chance in bringing me back!" he said as he activated his two-tomoe Sharingan and charged at Naruto. He lifted his leg for a kick while Naruto guarded it and was sent to the water, Sasuke leaped and aimed for an axe kick but Naruto moved to the shore, channeling chakra to his feet and landed on the side, similar to a wall, of the mountain. Sasuke followed and they exchanged blows there, they each got hits on each other. Naruto questioned Sasuke's reason and purpose once more only to get the same response. For more power, for his revenge on the man who happens to be his brother, the one who massacred his clan.
"There must be some other way! It can't be revenge!" he tried to reason out but Sasuke wasn't buying it.
"You wouldn't understand! You were alone from the start while I had bonds, until they were severed by him! With the reason to test his abilities!" Sasuke argued.
"That doesn't mean you have to leave the village!" Naruto yelled as he threw a punch.
"This is necessary. The longer I stay the less progress I make. I must severe my bonds with all of you to get stronger, to gain more power!" Sasuke countered as he guarded and kicked and parried. As this went on a third tomoe suddenly appeared on Sasuke's Sharingan, he started to see Naruto's next move clearly and is able to land more hits on him. Naruto was forced to be on the defensive and finally noticed that Sasuke's Sharingan had three tomoes. 'Crap!' he cursed in his head as Sasuke punched his face, he then went behind him then kicked him towards the water.
Naruto fell to the water, this time channeling chakra to his body so he doesn't actually fall in. Despite the pain he felt he forced himself back up and was greeted with an upper cut to the air followed by an axe kick back to the water. Naruto panted as he thought about Sasuke's words, it seemed that he wasn't taking this seriously, either because he didn't want to hurt him or he was getting cocky about his own abilities. He slowly got up as Sasuke stood there watching him.
"It's either you're holding back or you're actually weak. If it's the latter then I shouldn't have been worried about you in the first place" Sasuke commented as Naruto slowly got up thinking about how he wanted to fight Sasuke.
"When I said I wanted to fight you... I meant in sparring... not this..." he slowly said as the pain continued to swell, he thought about Kurama for a moment since the large fox was silent this whole time. Sasuke did a few hand signs for the Chidori and aimed on the right side of Naruto's chest, impaling him with his jutsu. Naruto coughed up blood and some trickled at the corner of his lips and the area where Sasuke's arm was bled. Sasuke took out his arm leaving a hole as Naruto stumbled backwards holding the wound with his left hand, he panted as his vision blurred a bit.
"Hn, you're weak after all" he said.
"Naruto!" Kurama called as the scene played before him. He bared his teeth as his claws looked more sharper, he growled deeply as he yelled
"You Uchiha brat!" he roared as his chakra started to go out of control.
Sasuke turned to leave but then felt an immense aura. He turned back to Naruto to see him standing still with the wound he caused slowly closing up. Naruto inhaled and exhaled as most of his wounds were healed. Something heavy grew within him but he chose to ignore it, he clenched his fist as he glared at Sasuke.
"You want me to be serious? Then I'll show you how I am when I'm serious" he said seriously.
Sasuke stared at him for a moment then shot his head backwards slowly laughing out loud, he inhaled and exhaled as he fixed his sight back on the blonde Jinchūriki.
"Then amuse me" Sasuke said as he activated his Sharingan and charged at Naruto, he took out a kunai and swiped it, Naruto ducked to dodge taking out his own kunai and swung it at Sasuke's to disarm him. Sasuke quickly turned for a roundhouse kick while Naruto jumped backwards then jumped up to throw his kunai at him, Sasuke flipped to the left and did a few hand signs,
"Katon: Gokyaku no Jutsu! (Fire release: Great Fireball Technique)" he spat out a great ball of fire taking advantage of the fact that Naruto was in the air for it is difficult to dodge, Naruto only did a few handsigns to counter
"Futon: Daitoppa (Wind release: Great Breakthrough)" he released a powerful blast of wind snuffing out Sasuke's ball of fire easily as if it was just a candle you'd blow on your birthday. Naruto landed back on the water and ran towards Sasuke, Sasuke clicked his tongue as he took out another kunai with an explosive tag and threw it, Naruto only side-stepped and used his index finger on the ring of the kunai and redirected it towards Sasuke. Sasuke only parried to the side as it detonated a distance from him. Naruto ran to him with a fist out, Sasuke prepared to dodge expecting a punch but when Naruto got close he actually had a smoke bomb in his hand and released it, enveloping Sasuke's surroundings with purple smoke. Sasuke coughed a bit as he tried to see his surroundings when he was kicked at the back and got out of the smoke then was kicked at his side hitting his back to the hard surface near the great statue. Naruto was on the other side of the water panting, he now felt pain within him and held his chest. He realized that this was because of Kurama's chakra acting up, he heaved as he bent forward.
"Kurama... calm down..." he said hoping the large fox would hear him. Kurama's chakra was slowly overtaking him and he felt more pain, his blue eyes slowly started turning red with slit-like pupils but he shook it off trying to stay calm. 'Kurama...!' he thought as he entered his mindscape, Kurama was in all fours his pupils becoming thinner and his claws digging into the floor of the mindscape, his chakra leaked greatly and Naruto had to strengthen his body just to get closer to him.
"Kurama!" he called out but the fox wasn't listening he continued to growl as he stared at the Uchiha from his place, furious from the wound he inflicted on his host.
"I'll kill you, I'll make you suffer...!" he threatened assuming that the Uchiha heard him, Naruto went closer to him and looked up at the Bijū.
"Kurama! Kurama!" he called but the fox only roared loudly. Naruto then sensed a strong aura nearby, he returned to reality and looked to the source of the aura which was where the Uchiha was. He heard low sinister chuckles getting louder by the second and sees something horrific. It was Sasuke, his skin ash gray and his eyes yellow with his lips purple, his nails long and sharp and his hair long and messy, on his back were webbed hands that served as his wings. He laughed to himself,
"I can feel it. The power of the Curse Mark!" he reveled as Naruto showed disgust, a bit repulsed from the new appearance of the Uchiha.
"Ew, that's really weird and ugly!" he commented as the Uchiha sneered at him. Without any handsigns he formed a Chidori on his dominant hand,
"This is the end. You will lose" Sasuke said confidently as Naruto felt the pain inside him growing heavier, he only rubbed it off and scoffed,
"Ha! Watch me bring you down to your knees!" he yelled as he formed a Rasengan on his hand. Sasuke flew up and towards Naruto while Naruto leapt off from the ground.
"NARUTO!"
"SASUKE!"
An explosion from both of the jutsu's colliding was expected but that didn't happen. Along the way, Naruto disspelled his jutsu and shunshined behind Sasuke then delivered an axe kick to the water, the Chidori ended up hitting the water and created a big splash. He quickly made a clone and threw him to shore, the clone doing handsigns then placed his hand to the ground and disappearing. Naruto dropped to the water behind Sasuke, who panted for a bit as he regained his original appearance and the pattern slowly retracing back to the mark. Naruto walked towards him and kicked him to shore exactly on top of the formula his clone created. Naruto shunshined to Sasuke as he put a hand over his head
"Fūin!" he said as a seal appeared on Sasuke immobilizing his movement. Sasuke tried to move a bit, he gritted his teeth as he tried to use what little strength he had left to break free. Naruto only sighed as he sat cross-legged in front of his teammate.
"See? I told you I'd put you on your knees, ya know" Naruto said pointing out the kneeling position of the young Uchiha. Sasuke could only bare his teeth as he glared at the blonde ninja.
"You-!"
"Will you shut up and listen to me?" Naruto snapped as he bonked his teammate in the head. Sasuke only clicked his tongue at the current situation while Naruto only sighed.
"I understand that you want to kill Itachi for killing your clan but I don't get why you have to leave the village. Sever the bonds if you were to say it, ya know" Naruto said as Sasuke only grumbled
"You don't understand. I-"
"Another thing, why have revenge on Itachi?" asked Naruto
"Because he massacred my clan just to test his abilities!" Sasuke shouted in frustration as Naruto crossed his arms and shut his eyes to think.
"Then why did he let you live?" he asked
"So that I can avenge my clan!" Sasuke yelled. Naruto thought again,
"Really?" he asked as Sasuke continued to mutter curse words at him.
"Itachi is your brother, right? Why did he kill everyone, but you? Even killed your parents, but you?" he continued to ask as Sasuke opened his mouth to argue but he shut it because he couldn't think of a reason. Naruto thought long and hard then came up with a conclusion.
"Could it be it's because he couldn't?" he asked as Sasuke looked at him confused with where this is going.
"I remember when I was little, I'd pass by a few people talking about Itachi. How he's great and a genius, and how much he loved his brother" Naruto stated as he recalled the days he'd overhear conversations. Sasuke could only narrow his eyes, brows furrowed, not believing the last part Naruto mentioned.
"That's not possible. He didn't care about me, he only let me live because I wasn't worth killing" Sasuke claimed as Naruto hummed.
"Think about it Sasuke, you were a kid that time. You're not worth killing? I'm sure there were other Uchiha's your age, older or younger, and they aren't worth killing either that's for sure. So why was he able to kill them but not you?" Naruto started
"The reason is simple, it's because he couldn't. Itachi loved you, he loved you more than anything and anyone else. That's why he let you live, because he couldn't bring himself to kill you" Naruto continued. Sasuke widened his eyes, he recalled back to his days with Itachi as he tried to process Naruto's words. He couldn't believe it.
"That's not possible..."Sasuke muttered as Naruto sighed in exasperation, his patience draining from Sasuke's constant denial.
"Well, that's my conclusion. Only way to know the truth is to ask him yourself" Naruto said as he stood up and went behind Sasuke,
"You should ask him for the truth. He must have a reason for killing your clan" Naruto suggested
"I will never-" Sasuke insisted but was cut off when Naruto hit him on the nape to render him unconscious.
"Think about what I said, it might save you from a bad decision, ya know" was all Sasuke heard as he slowly closed his eyes and went limp.
Naruto then felt a thump, a huge wave of pain overtaking him. He inhaled and exhaled as he tried to calm himself, going on all fours. He shut his eyes as he went back to his mindscape.
Once again, he found himself before the Bijū. Who continued to heave, growl, and roar. Despite the fact that the Uchiha was more or less asleep, Kurama continued to let out his rage his chakra continuously leaking. Naruto tried to get close, the same way he did a while ago. Naruto struggled then went to his paw.
"Kurama! Calm down! You have to calm down!" he pleaded but the Bijū let out a loud roar that sent anything near him flying. Naruto had to hold on to his fur to prevent himself from flying away. He gripped his fur harder as he pulled himself closer, he shut his eyes as he hugged the Bijū's paw.
"KURAMA!" he yelled loudly. This time, the fox heard him. He jerked his head below him to see his host holding him tightly. He spotted something wet on Naruto's face, was it from the water in the mindscape that splashed as he roared? He then focused more and noticed that it wasn't, they were actually tears, Naruto was crying.
"Calm down Kurama... please..." he pleaded, Kurama softened at this. His claws retracted a bit and he sat down, the feeling of guilt came but anger and hatred continue to linger.
"Naruto..." he called as the blonde sniffled then looked up at the fox.
"Kurama...?" he said. Kurama winced, he felt pain from seeing his host this way, because of his outburst.
"I'm sorry" he apologized as he hung his head. Naruto only sniffled then wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, a smile returning to the blonde.
"It's okay. I'm just glad you're okay" he said, Kurama returned the smile as Naruto backed away.
"You should get some rest. It was a tiring day. With all the fighting, ya know" Naruto said, Kurama was about to protest but Naruto shook his hands at the fox.
"No no no, you should go to sleep. I can heal my wounds and I'm sure they'll heal even if you don't do anything so go to sleep Kurama!" Naruto insisted. Kurama narrowed his eyes at his host
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah!"
Kurama then went to his sleeping position and slowly closed his eyes.
"Be sure to rest up when you get back" Kurama said as Naruto gave him his trademark grin,
"Don't worry! Leave everything to me!" Naruto said confidently as Kurama went to sleep.
Back to reality, Naruto sat down and sighed. The feeling of exhaustion from the travel and battles today started to overcome him. But he shook his head and slapped himself, he still had something to do. He stood up and went to the Uchiha, he put a hand over his head as he said
"Kai!"
The seal was released and the Uchiha was free, his body fell backwards but Naruto caught him in time. Sighing, he put his hands over Sasuke's torso and started healing him. Once he was done he carried him over the shoulder and made his way back to Konoha.
Ohmygosh, I finally finished the chap. Not gonna lie, this chap is so far the longest and it surpassed the word count of the Battle Between the Two Jinchūriki's chap which only had 6140 words while this had 6532 words (excluding author's words). After this, the next chapter is where it all starts, it's where the title of this fic finally comes true HAHAHAHAHA. I'm excited and I'm currently working on it, yey! Anywayyy, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter cuz I did and of course I still suck at fight scenes. But anyway! Look forward to the next onee, see ya!
Update! My internet just came back, viz we went through a typhoon and it took like more than a month for the electricity and water and internet to come back. I think I'll make a few changes to this but oh well! Look forward to the next chapter "Leave for the Better" see ya!
Wifizone shutting down
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