Naruto's POV
"Watch out!" Naruto heard Gamaken's cry right before he turned around and grabbed Sasuke's waist as they rolled off of Gamabunta's back and onto the ground with a loud thud. He let out a painful groan, his mouth ajar while his arms were starting to loosen around the raven who was huddled on his chest and breathing heavily. He was sure that the proximity between them wasn't helping either.
Being out of the enemy's range, Sakura and Kakashi had managed to jump off while Gamabunta was sent flying by a snake who was aiming for the toad's nape.
"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked as he rolled off of the blond and got up to his feet, lending out his hand to pull him up, which Naruto gladly accepted.
"Yeah. Don't worry about me. Just make sure you're fast enough to not get swallowed by a snake." He brushed off the dirt on his baggy pants. "Chief!" He cranked his neck to glance at the toad who was trying to get up.
"I'm fine! You take care of the shinobi!" Gamabunta croaked, his throat seemingly sore. Naruto nodded his head slightly and shot the raven a stern look.
"I'll make sure Sakura doesn't get hurt. You go and get rid of these things." Sasuke kept his hand from patting the other's shoulder. But before he could jump away, the blond ducked only to see a snake thrown over them and an angry pinkhead at their right.
"Who said I needed any help?" She clicked her tongue with annoyance, tugging at her brown gloves. Naruto sighed with a small smirk on his face and pulled out his katana in one swift move. What he did next seemed to have surprised the raven. He swung it around and threw it at him, who immediately caught it, his coal-black eyes widening slightly.
"What about you?" He voiced his thoughts as his gaze fixed the other's.
"I have Sage Mode. Besides, I hate slicing snakes when that green blood coats my clothes." He scrunched his nose in disgust, his face turning to his left while he raised his right hand and formed a seal, tapping into the Nature Energy he had stored inside a seal using Fuinjutsu. The art the Uzumaki Clan excelled at. His eyes turned sandy and more serious as he glanced at Sasuke one more time. "I know you do know how to use it." He saw the Uchiha tense up as his gaze clouded upon hearing his monotone words. Even back then, they'd used to spar using katanas they'd borrowed from some Jonin who were actually willing to lend them. But one of the things Sasuke didn't know was that Naruto had known how to maneuver it long before they had met.
"Don't feel bad, kit. It's in the past." Kurama nudged his Jinchuriki gently once he felt the pang in his heart. "He'll get over it. Just don't let it show that it affects you too."
"I know." Naruto said no more and jumped out of a snake's way, somersaulting until he landed on his hands and then back onto his feet. Not a second later, he charged at the creature as he crashed his fist into its head, throwing it into the ground while it split open. With the corner of his eye, he saw Sasuke slice down a snake's throat, maneuvering the katana majestically. He really is good with swords. The blond swallowed the guilt rising up in his throat and let the Tailed Beast chakra surge into his veins. He needed to get rid of the snakes fast. His fists balled before long, sharp claws erupted out of his fingers and his eyes took on the form of a black cross, outlined by a tint of red. His canines turned into small fangs, but he wasn't going to use them. Not today.
In a flash, he cut through rows of slithering creatures while his cloak remained untouched by their gooey blood. He looked around him to find himself surrounded by five black snakes bigger than the previous ones. A smirk tugged at his lips. He leaped onto one of their heads and clamped its muzzle closed, making the unfortunate snake shriek halfheartedly as it bit down on its tongue until blood oozed out. Naruto quickly dug his fists into the rest's heads and jumped down, bodies falling to the ground behind him. He glanced at his green-bloodied palms, his eyes narrowing. It brought back unpleasant memories. He shrugged it off and sheated his claws as he wiped them clean with his cloak and put his black gloves, deciding that it was time to stop acting so beastly. He was no animal, as some would like to say. Gamabunta, Hiro and Ken had been slicing through snakes all around them while Kakashi pushed his kunai into their scales, leaving Sakura to crack skulls and Sasuke to cut massive throats. But everything is due to an end.
Suddenly, Naruto froze. He heard a hissed laugh in the distance which seemed to be getting closer and closer, despite the heated battle going on. He used his chakra tails to strangle any remaining snakes and threw them away from the area to gain more visibility before he signaled the three toads to get close to him and to the other shinobi. He felt Sasuke jump at his right while Sakura walked at his left and Kakashi remained behind them, between the toads and the trio. The giant figure slithered closer as uneasiness crawled up the kunoichi's porcelain face.
"You know, I'm glad Gamakichi isn't here, or else he wouldn't even be able to look at him in the eye." Gamahiro let out a humorless chuckle, his grip on his blades tightening.
"You could've mentioned that he is this big, Naruto." Sakura laughed nervously while fiddling with her fingers.
"I agree." Sasuke breathed out, clutching at the Jinchuriki's katana as his composed gaze fixed on the giant snake who was now standing a few meters in front of them.
"I'm recalling some bad memories from this." Kakashi pulled his mask down to revealing his Sharingan, his muscles tense and ready to attack at any moment.
"Long time no see, Naruto." The snake almost seemed to purr in a sickeningly sweet voice. He obviously ignored the ninjas and the toads.
"I can't say I'm glad, Manda." Naruto's face grew emotionless, and a little cold, his tone flat.
Manda was coloured purple and had black rings running down intervals on his long body. He had massive fangs, presumably carrying venom in them and green, piercing eyes that most creatures fear. He also had four horn-like protrusions on his head.
"Do not lash at me like that, dear. I am not here to fight you. For now." He hissed slowly, his forked tongue running along the smooth edges of his jaw. "I am just a mere messenger, and I had to take a look at you myself, after all these years when Jiraiya has kept you away from me." A deep chuckle came out of his muzzle.
"You're starting to sound like Orochimaru. Go on, then." The blond folded his arms on his chest as he tapped his foot on the ground twice to let Gamabunta, Hiro and Ken know that they can stand back.
"These snakes were just a warning, a little gift from that sly Toneri of yours. And for your information, Orochimaru is not quite fazed by any of this, so far. We shall see." Manda clicked his tongue as a wave of sadness came over Naruto as soon as the word 'Toneri' left the snake's mouth. "The true hell is about to break loose. Prepare yourself. I do not wish you to die before I can have my way with you. So keep that in mind, will you, little fox?" He smirked, barring his white fangs.
"Of course. And how many has he promised you this time, may I ask?" Naruto kept it formal, despite the presence of the bile which was sitting at the back of his throat.
"One thousand. Given their plans, I have a feeling I might be getting much more than that." Manda smiled slyly while his eyes narrowed. Before any more vile words could escape his mouth, Naruto quickly grabbed his katana out of Sasuke's hand and cut down the snake's body, leaving a trail of dust behind. Manda disappeared in a puff of white smoke but a satisfied look seemed to have remained on his face.
"You knew, didn't you?" Sasuke muttered, his gaze softening even though Naruto was looking straight ahead, and not at him.
"Know what?" Sakura's brows furrowed slightly.
"That it was a Shadow Clone." Kakashi pulled his mask back up as he eyed the worried pinkhead.
"Yeah. I knew as soon as he got close enough for me to tell that his chakra signature was fragmented, which only meant that he was here either to observe or to pass a message." The blond ran his fingers through his blonde locks while his eyes returned to the normal ocean-blue.
"We should be getting back, now that this snake problem has been fixed." Gamabunta nudged Naruto gently with the tip of his slimy finger. "The Great Toad wishes to see you before you leave, Naruto."
"He said something about another prophecy." Gamaken placed his sasumata on his back, blinking at the shinobi as a sign that he had acknowledged their presence.
"Very well." The young Uzumaki nodded his head to no one in particular and jumped onto the toad's back, followed by the three ninjas. Once the toad had started jumping, Naruto was able to feel Sasuke desire to go back to their previous position. But he could also feel his uneasiness. So he slowly laid back as the raven got the message and moved closer until he was basically leaning onto the blond's back, his hands placed on his shoulders.
He closed his eyes to enjoy the delicate feeling and pushed away any thoughts of what was bound to come.
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Heya! Missed me? I know you've missed updates, though! Anyway, I didn't intend to make this chapter this long but it came out like this. And I'm not complaining.
I also want to show you guys something!
Thank you so much to Utau-tori ❤️ for making this amazing drawing that you guys can relate to! That's basically what Naruto looks like in this story. And I also wanted to say.. GUYS, YOU ARE AWESOME. Over 90K views is seriously insane, though. I never thought that this book would almost have 100K views! It really means a lot to me! So thank you, guys! You're the best!
Next time, on Naruto Shippuden:
'The Child Of Prophecy'
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~See ya!~
~Bella~
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