The Cost
of Vengeance
By Ami-Chan
Chapter III: Sasuke’s Decision
The moment Orochimaru took his hand; Sasuke was in a trance of bliss. He forgot everything around him, and all he cared to see was the chakra swirling in between them. He had no sense of hearing the footsteps rushing towards him, seeing the swift energy shooting for him, or feeling the horrible tragedy that was about to befall him. Sasuke just remained the way he was, until his illusion of pleasure gave out. Kabuto was five feet from him with a large kunai and coming fast. An orange jacket blocked Sasuke’s path of sight. Blood flew in the air, and the smell leaked into Sasuke’s nose. Now, he completely came to his senses. He gasped when he turned to see Kabuto jump back with a bloody kunai dripping with poison, and Naruto on the ground supporting himself with only one hand as he held his blood gushing wound with his other. Naruto breathed heavily as he rose off the ground and stood in front of Sasuke with his back arched over.
“Why did you…come to save me?” Sasuke stammered in disbelief.
“I don’t know…you idiot…my body moved on its own,” Naruto replied as he continued to breathe heavily until his movements froze.
Naruto’s eyes became perfect circles as a nauseating feeling came over his entire body. He coughed violently and vomited a pool of blood in front of him. Every part of him was burning. Unable to resist the symptoms of the poison, Naruto’s eyes closed and he fell onto his back unconscious. Sasuke took slow steps towards him and placed a shaky hand over his heart. It was beating faintly still, but Naruto’s breathing was becoming slower. If he lost his breath, it would be over for him. Sasuke took the hand off Naruto’s chest and clenched it into a fist. There was a fire burning in his eyes like even he had never felt before. Nothing was stronger than the rage of a Leaf shinobi or an avenger.
“Orochimaru… he had no part in this. I have realized now that you have been deceiving me… but that is beside the point. Give Naruto his life,” Sasuke demanded, showing a side of him no one has seen before.
“The only one who can give him his life is you, Sasuke. Only you can determine what happens to him. I’m going to give you a choice that no one has ever had,” Orochimaru offered.
“I’m listening, you swine,” Sasuke insulted him from afar.
“You must either accept my power and have him killed, or for no reason at all… spare the nine-tail’s pathetic life, and never get your chance to kill Itachi!” Orochimaru said, leaving Sasuke in a dilemma.
“Naruto can’t die by poison with Kyuubi inside him. You can’t fool-”
“Play the fool, be the fool, Sasuke-kun. Don’t you think we were prepared for Naruto-kun’s interference? The poison within him blocks out help from the demon fox, and therefore, Naruto-kun will either suffocate or his heart will fail without this antidote,” Kabuto smirked. His plan was brilliant.
“Why can’t I save him if I receive your power? Is it that weak that it couldn’t bring a dead person back to life? Besides, why should I trust you now that you’ve deceived me once?” Sasuke asked while staring Orochimaru in the eye.
“I merely did this to bring down your only obstruction, the nine-tails “Naruto.” I suggest you take the power, Sasuke. He’s hindered you all this time, and now you have the chance to get rid of him without even being guilty of the murder since you didn’t commit it. You have a chance to master Sharingan,” Orochimaru smirked as he explained.
“Is this really the power I want?” Sasuke thought.
Images began to appear in Sasuke’s mind. They were the images of the past and present. They flashed by like cars on a racetrack. Maybe they would answer Sasuke’s question he had from within. Was this the power he really desired, even if he had to sacrifice Naruto’s life? Was this worth everything that he was going through? No one knows that Orochimaru wasn’t going to deceive him once again. No one knows what the answer would be to Sasuke’s most difficult choice would be, to protect his power, or to protect his friend.
“Sasuke Uchiha, I can give you the power to fulfill your wish of vengeance. If you find me…I’ll give you the gift no one in the Leaf Village could. Power beyond your wildest dreams, achieved by receiving curse seal level two will be yours. Remember those words, Sasuke. This is the only way to kill Itachi,” Orochimaru’s voice rang in his mind.
“Do you want this new power, Sasuke? This new Sharingan can only be acquired if you kill your closest friend,” Itachi’s words also came by into Sasuke’s recollections.
“Itachi…how could you? How could you…involve him in this?” Sasuke stammered in between bursts of anger within the memory of his dream.
“My dearest Sasuke…you should be ashamed. You were so busy seeking out power from Orochimaru that you weren’t in time to stop him. Wasn’t he a member of your new clan? Didn’t you care deeply for him?” Itachi mocked him, and then he faded away.
“Why did you…come to save me?” Sasuke stuttered in his recent memory.
“I don’t know…you idiot…my body moved on its own,” Naruto replied and then his image shattered after Sasuke awoke to his senses.
“Itachi…Orochimaru…their intentions are the same. Naruto…you must understand. This cause I fight for is something I’m destined to die for. You are destined for more than that,” Sasuke thought as he looked at him with saddened eyes.
“Have you decided?” Orochimaru questioned victoriously.
“Like I said before, I want you to give Naruto his life. He has no part in this…give him the cure.” Sasuke ordered pulling out some hidden kunais and shuriken. “I will be…his avenger!”
“You…the avenger of the nine-tails? Fool. You’ve given up your last chance. I could have granted my gift of the level two curse seal on you. Now you’re destined to die after speaking the words of a sympathetic moron from the Leaf Village,” Orochimaru threatened.
“What can you do? You can’t use jutsu, so that means you can’t lay a hand on me,” Sasuke remarked calmly.
“Sasuke-kun’s choice is made…I’ll save Naruto-kun,” Kabuto sighed, pulling a small vial of blue liquid from his pocket.
Kabuto slipped the vial into Naruto’s mouth and tipped it a little so that it would be swallowed. He wrapped one arm around Naruto’s shoulders and chanted a jutsu with the other hand. In an instant they were gone. Sasuke suspected it was merely a teleportation jutsu that meant quick escapes in battle. Sasuke smirked. Now that Naruto was off the playing field, he could finally go all out against Orochimaru.
“You say that you’re immortal. That will change very soon,” Sasuke said as he held out his kunai ready to strike.
“We’ll see about that, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru grinned.
“You’re quite overconfident. There’s something you’ve hidden,” Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows suspicious of Orochimaru.
“Yes, I should tell you. Since I used my immortality to fool you, and I mixed our energies to give you a sense of gain, then that means I’ve passed Sarutobi’s curse temporarily to you. I’m sure that I can kill you before you can use jutsu again though,” Orochimaru almost burst out laughing but held it in his eccentric smirk.
“I’ll kill you before you have another chance to smile,” Sasuke said as he threw three kunais at once towards him.
Orochimaru deflected all three in different directions in the blink of an eye with a short katana that had a thin iron blade. He made several missing swipes for Sasuke until his sword stuck to the side of a tree. Sasuke made a rush for him and he drew out his blade quickly. Orochimaru meant to strike Sasuke’s heart, but his poor aim at Sasuke’s rapid speed only led the sword through his left shoulder. Sasuke ignored the pain for now, and he sliced across Orochimaru’s neck with his only shuriken. Orochimaru fell back when a burst of energy suddenly exploded in the cut, and his head was severed. Sasuke grabbed the sword and pulled it out while holding his shoulder.
“You were never immortal…you were just a demon…Orochimaru. Kakashi’s shuriken is enough to prove it,” Sasuke stammered at his defeated opponent thinking his lingering soul would hear him.
-A While Back-
“Sasuke, before we go on to the Chunnin exams, I have something to give you,” Kakashi stopped him.
“What is it?” Sasuke asked interested only a little.
“Here. It’s called an “anti-youkai” shuriken. If it cuts demon chakra, then the cut will explode. Youkai are nasty opponents with dark chakra. If you suspect you’re fighting a demon, use it!” Kakashi warned.
“I understand,” Sasuke nodded and put the black shuriken in his pocket.
-Present Time-
“I thank you, Kakashi, for helping me exorcise that demon but…there is still one more thing I must do. Itachi must die,” Sasuke said to himself as he started to walk away from his battlefield, removing his shirt and wrapping his wound with it.
****
“So, Sasuke-kun decided to save you. You’re lucky to live, Naruto-kun… but I’m not going to return you peacefully. Before you even awaken, I’ll cause a disturbance in the leaf,” Kabuto thought as he carried him.