Genin
By Flashfyre5
Chapter
Eight: Marathon
“Sakura,
what’s wrong?” Naruto asked in a hurried whisper, his hand resting lightly
on her bent back. He could feel
her whole body shiver with pain.
“I… don’t…
know…” Sakura replied, doing her best to keep her voice in a whisper.
Then the pain intensified, and she arched her back.
Sakura’s mouth opened, and out of it issued an ear-wrenching scream
of pain. As her head snapped back, Naruto could
see her green irises filling slowly with red, the bloodlike tide advancing
in towards her pupil.
“There
you are,” a voice intruded upon the two.
Naruto, acting on reflex, planted his hands on the ground and shoved
himself upwards, sending his feet into the air. His right foot caught Taka’s chin in a
glancing blow, and the surprised jounin fell back a step. Naruto twisted in the air and landed lightly
on his feet. Taka circled slowly
to the left, and Naruto mimicked him. Behind them, Sakura’s wails of pain burst
again and again upon the two.
“Your
friend there’s hurting pretty bad,” Taka commented, sparing a glance toward
the bush that Sakura was still hiding behind.
“And the
sooner I beat you, the sooner I can get her to Tsunade,” Naruto returned seriously.
Taka looked back at Naruto, only to find that his opponent’s eyes had
become blood red and slitted. “Sorry,
buddy, but I gotta end this fast,” Naruto growled, his voice having dropped
an octave from Kyuubi’s chakra. He
charged, his feet tearing up little clumps of earth as he ran.
“Shit,”
Taka cursed, then leapt into the air.
He flipped over as he jumped, gathered his legs underneath him as he
found an overhanging tree branch, then sprung back down, his left arm extended.
Naruto barely had time for his eyes to widen before Taka’s armored
gauntlet slammed into his chest. He
was knocked to the ground hard, and Naruto could hear little cracking noises
as his ribs shuddered under the incredible amount of force that Taka had hit
him with.
/It’s
like getting hit by Tsunade,/ Naruto thought as Taka touched down and leapt
back into the air. /He’s using
his speed and the weight of those gauntlets to give him more hitting strength
than he would ever have on his own!/
Naruto rolled and pushed himself to his feet.
His chest burned as Kyuubi’s chakra snapped his bones back into place
and healed them. Hearing the
flexing of wood behind him, Naruto dove to his left, and barely managed to
avoid getting hit again by Taka’s gauntlets.
“Nice,
kiddo!” Taka crowed as he leapt upwards again. “Wish I was back in the canyons of the
Wind country. Hell of a lot quieter
there!”
“But you’re
here!” Naruto returned, leaping up after him. Taka landed on a branch again, but leapt
upwards again, instead of back at Naruto.
The blond-haired boy slashed with his claw like hands, but only managed
to shear off the tree branch that Taka had used. Naruto landed with his feet on the tree
and ran straight up it, pulling a pair of kunai from his pouch. Behind him, bark crumbled off of the tree
at his passing, but Naruto was running too quickly for it to stop him. When Taka touched down above him, Naruto
slung a kunai at the red-haired man as hard as he could. The kunai flew true, and slashed through
Taka’s right bicep, then embedded itself in the tree trunk. Taka just grinned and leapt down towards
Naruto.
“Game
over, kiddo. Uchi-kudaku Ude
Toppu,” he grinned, catching Naruto full in the chest with his gauntlet. Naruto, instead of squirming away, reached
out and clutched Taka to himself. “What?”
Taka exclaimed, then the two of them slammed into the ground.
Dust shot into the air, and chunks of earth were sent flying from the
point of impact. As it cleared, Taka forced himself to
his feet and stumbled away.
“Damn
fool brat,” he muttered as he rested against a tree. “If he woulda at least tried to get away,
that wouldn’t have killed him.” Taka
noticed that the pink-haired girl’s screams had been reduced to pained moans.
“Who says
that I’m dead?” Naruto’s Kyuubi-altered voice growled. Taka turned in surprise to see Naruto
standing, hunched over, glaring at him.
With an audible snap, his obviously broken left arm straightened, and
Naruto flexed it. This process
continued with the other major bones in Naruto’s body that had been broken
in the impact. “They don’t call
me the number one toughest ninja in Konoha for nothing,” the blond-haired
boy grinned, standing up straight.
“Damn,
kid. You’re something else,”
Taka marveled, shaking his head. Wearily,
he pushed away from the tree and fell into a fighting stance, surrendering
the offensive to Naruto.
“You are
too, old man,” Naruto returned with a grin. “I wish that we could fight for longer,
but Sakura needs help.” /That
and the fact that I’ve wasted way too much chakra healing myself from his
attacks. I’ve gotta end this
fight now,/ Naruto thought grimly, glaring at the man. /The Hisan na Saigo Ha’ll do it,/ he decided,
his jaw set. Taka took note of
his words and leapt away from the blond-haired boy.
* * * * * *
Sakura sat up slowly, clutching her head. The world seemed to spin around her, but
it settled down quickly enough. Her
hand, as it held the front of her head, seemed to glow with a soft blue light,
which hovered over and moved with her hand.
“What happened to me?” she wondered aloud, then moaned loudly as a
wave of nauseous pain washed over her.
Dust seemed to swirl around her for a minute, and Sakura remembered
that she had heard a great crash just a few moments ago. She forced away her nausea and turned
to look in the direction of the noise.
She saw Taka, leaning on a tree and panting heavily. He was surrounded by a soft blue glow,
but it was more intense than the glow in her own hands by far. Then she saw Naruto, and had to double-check
that he wasn’t engulfed in some kind of wildfire. Washing out from his body in waves was
an incredible glow; it fully engulfed his half of the clearing. In the middle of it, Naruto was slowly
standing up straight, accompanied by several loud cracking and popping noises.
Sakura winced with each, barely able to contain her horror.
“Damn, kid. You’re something
else,” the red-haired man marveled from his position across the clearing. He pushed himself away from his tree,
and the blue glow around him flared, then concentrated around his arms and
legs.
“You are too, old man,” Naruto returned as the incredible red radiance
around him died down somewhat. “I
wish that we could fight for longer, but Sakura needs help,” he finished,
and Sakura could just imagine the grin that was on his face. She tried to call out to Naruto, but a
wave of pain engulfed her as she was about to speak, and Sakura could only
clutch her head and moan. When
she looked up again, Taka had leapt away, and Naruto was following him on
the ground.
“This is it, kiddo. I
haven’t had to use this move in a long time,” Taka grinned from his position
on top of one of the trees. Naruto,
now quite some distance away from Sakura, stopped and stared up at Taka, standing
at the ready. Taka made several
hand seals quickly, but he was too far away from Sakura for her to see anything
more distinct than moving hands.
“Bring me down, and take the next step towards becoming a jounin!”
Taka grinned, his goatee pulled as his face produced a devilish grin. “Hayasa no Oto no Jutsu!” he declared,
and Sakura saw a little pocket of blue glow leap away from his body. It formed into a needle-like shape around
Taka, then the man leapt off of the branch and down towards Naruto. He was moving incredibly fast, and Sakura
could barely keep up with his movement. Only because of the blue pocket around
him could Sakura keep track of Taka’s movements. He landed and hit Naruto hard, leapt to
a nearby tree, and hit him again before Naruto could react.
Suddenly, Sakura realized that Naruto had been tricked; he was standing
in between three trees, which formed a triangle around him. /Taka can hit him, rebound off of one
of the nearby trees, and strike again before Naruto can even react!/ Sakura
thought with widening eyes. /I’ve
gotta help him!/ Quickly, she
formed a few hand seals of her own, while concentrating on Taka.
“Chui na Me no Jutsu,” she said, hoping that it would be enough to
allow Naruto to make his move.
* * * * * *
Taka grinned as he rebounded off of the first tree in the little triangle
that he’d found. He believed
that anyone who wanted to be a Jounin had to earn it, and he wasn’t about
to pull any punches, considering who this kid was.
/Gaara’s equal, the infamous nine-tails-fox kid,/ he grinned to himself
as he slammed his gauntlet into Naruto’s back. /He’s something else./ When he didn’t hear the sounds of snapping
bone, Taka winced. /The Hayasa
no Oto lets me move more quickly, but I just don’t have as much acceleration
room here,/ he thought grimly as he rebounded again, this time streaking towards
Naruto’s side. His lungs were
burning, but he didn’t dare release the breath that he held.
/That’s the strength and weakness of this skill,/ he thought, his arm
slamming into Naruto’s kidney. /It removes the air from around my body,
so I’ve got no wind resistance whatsoever.
On the other hand, I can’t breathe, so I’ve gotta finish this quickly./
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Taka saw the pink-haired girl
diving towards him, a kunai in hand.
Her eyes were wild, intent on injuring him. The red-haired man twisted in midair,
avoiding her knife but missing his own strike. Then he saw another pink-haired girl flying
at him, kunai raised for an overhand blow. Taka’s lungs were burning now; he had
no choice but to release his jutsu.
He gulped in air, and dodged her strike, leaping up into the trees
again.
“Kage Bunshin?” he wondered aloud as he dodged another strike from
another girl, which seemed to come out of nowhere. She was so fast too, almost as fast as
he was. /Wait a minute,/ he wondered,
glancing down at Naruto. The
boy had recovered, and was performing hand steals at an alarming rate.
Again, out of the corner of his eye, Taka saw another pink-haired girl
diving towards him, her kunai ready to disembowel him.
Instead of dodging this time, however, Taka interposed his gauntlet
between them, to block. The girl
passed right through his gauntlet, and right through his body as well.
“Damn! Genjutsu!” he cursed,
catching a tree branch and rebounding back towards Naruto. He saw several more of the pink-haired
girls flying towards him from his perceived weak points, but he was focused
on Naruto now. The boy had been
performing far too many hand seals; if he wasn’t stopped soon…
“Game over, old man,” Naruto grinned up at Taka, his eyes flashing. For a moment, Taka thought he could see
an intense red aura of chakra surrounding the kid, but then Naruto hunched
down. “Katon: Hisan na Saigo
Ha no Jutsu!” he shouted, and a little bubble of red chakra surrounded his
body. It swelled slowly for a second, then exploded
away from his body. In the instant
before it reached him, Taka could see that the wave was being pushed away
from Naruto by an intense flow of red chakra, greater than anything that he’d
ever seen before. Then the wave
hit him, and his entire world was pain. He felt like he was burning all over,
and being crushed from every direction.
Around him, trees were blasted from roots that had held them in place
for a hundred years, flung away as if they were no more than matchsticks. Leaves were torn from those that would
not move, and incinerated around them, ignited by the sheer heat of the technique.
Then it was over, and Taka was tumbling, end over end in the air. He was dazed, and couldn’t even remember
which way was up. Beneath him,
the clearing had been widened to a remarkable degree. Trees were downed everywhere, singe marks
covering their boles. Finally,
as he tumbled downwards like a rag doll, Taka realized that there was nothing
left for him to catch, or even jump off of. He was plummeting towards the ground at
a lethal rate. /Damn,/ he cursed
inwardly, pulling his hands in to form seals. /Gotta use Hiko no Jutsu./ Just before he struck the ground, he managed
to finish the last seal and pull up barely enough chakra to make the extremely
difficult jutsu work.
“Hiko no Jutsu!” he announced, and wind buffeted him from underneath.
It slowed his fall, and stopped him mere inches above the ground.
There, he hovered unsteadily for a moment. Then something jumped on his back, and
there was a kunai at his throat.
“I win,” Naruto announced as his weight pushed them both to the ground.
The blond-haired boy was breathing hard, as was his opponent.
“Fine, fine. Just get
the hell off of me!” Taka squirmed underneath the boy’s weight. Naruto complied, and the elder man stood,
brushing himself off. “That was
amazing,” Taka wondered aloud as he looked around the now-enlarged clearing.
Naruto merely nodded, still trying to catch his own breath.
“How’d you know I wasn’t gonna die from the fall?” Taka asked, casting
a raised eyebrow at Naruto. The
boy’s eyes were blue now, and his fingernails were no longer claws.
“Your bio said that you had a technique called Hiko no Jutsu,” Naruto
explained, standing up straight and putting his kunai away. “Plus, you’re a jounin. People like that don’t die so easily.”
Taka chucked at the boy; unlike Gaara, this boy was happy and cheerful. The difference between the two was remarkable,
really.
“You compared me to Gaara earlier,” Naruto said suddenly, looking towards
the old man. “Why? Nobody’s done that in years.” Taka ruffled his own hair a bit, before
replying with a half-grin.
“You two are the same. At
least, that’s what most people say,” Taka finally said, walking slowly towards
the pink-haired girl’s position. Now
that he knew that she had been performing genjutsu, he was fairly certain
that she’d stayed where she had been earlier. Naruto looked down at the ground, a sad
expression on his face. “It’s
not true, though,” Taka continued, weaving his fingers together behind his
head. “I mean, sure, in that
way, but you’re different in every other way.
You live you life, kid. Gaara
mourns his. You might as well
be night and day.” Naruto looked
up in surprise and stared at the red-haired jounin for a moment.
“Thanks,” Naruto said quietly, blushing just a bit.
“Don’t worry about it,” Taka replied, looking over at Naruto. He placed a gauntleted hand on Naruto’s
shoulder and stopped, turning Naruto to face him. “When this is all over, do me a favor,
okay?”
“Sure,” Naruto nodded, surprised.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Go teach my nephew how to live.
You’re the only one that ever reached him through that sand,” Taka
said solemnly, his face for once looking every one of his sixty plus years. “He thinks that he’s lost everything,
and even his brother and sister can’t get through to him anymore.”
“You’re Gaara’s…” Naruto trailed off, surprised.
“His mother’s brother,” Taka said, a wan smile on his face. “His father wouldn’t let me see him when
he was young. Nowadays…” Taka
shook his head. “He barely knows
me, and wouldn’t listen if I tried to talk to him.”
“Yeah,” Naruto nodded, his voice quiet. He could feel the older man’s sadness.
“Right! I’ll do it!” he grinned, putting a thumbs-up
between them. /Shoulda guessed
from the hair,/ Naruto thought to himself sheepishly, as he lowered his thumb
and scratched the back of his head.
* * * * * *
Sasuke glanced around warily as he settled into position, crouching
into the crook of a tree branch. Naruto
was fighting some red-haired man surrounded by a good amount of blue chakra.
/Actually,/ Sasuke thought with a grin, /the red-haired guy’s beating
the crap out of him. If I get lucky, someone else will kill
him before he even gets a chance to try for my life./ Then, Sasuke’s face darkened. /But then the red-haired man would come
after me. I’ll have to kill them
both./ Sasuke marveled for a
minute at the fact that, though the fourth pupil of his Shijuukaigan Sharingan
had faded away, his normal Sharingan was still active. Actually, he’d found that he couldn’t
turn it off anymore. /Not that
that’s a problem,/ he thought with a grin.
Then,
his attention was recaptured by the fighting duo. Apparently, Naruto had managed to escape
the red-haired man’s attacks for a moment.
Then, Sasuke’s eyes widened as a wave of annihilation burst away from
Naruto. He watched in awe as
trees were ripped from their roots, and the earth was scoured to its’ base. Then it was over, and he found himself
hiding in a tree without leaves. He
moved a few more trees away from the new clearing to give himself more cover.’
A flash of pink caught his eye, and Sasuke turned to look more closely.
There was Sakura, kneeling behind a tree as Naruto finished off his
opponent. /She’s the only one I can trust,/ he thought
for a moment, but then she stood up and moved to join Naruto in the clearing.
“I knew it,” Sasuke growled, his eyes narrowing. /He’s made her his bitch,/ he thought
angrily, his ire rising. /Always
taking away what’s mine. I’ll
kill him in front of her eyes, then I’ll kill her for betraying me!/ he decided,
then leapt down to the ground. Sakura
heard him, but he was too fast for her.
Sasuke grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the clearing, then
thrust her to the ground. She
screamed, tumbling once, then catching her feet underneath her. Her eyes were Sharingan red, and the lone
orbiting pupil around them whirled rapidly, a sign of her fear.
“Sasuke, what are you doing?” she asked as she rose, her voice betraying
her fear. “What’s happened to
you?” she asked, stepping backwards slowly.
Sasuke suddenly remembered that he was still covered in Kakashi’s blood,
and brought his blood covered right arm up slowly.
“Kakashi tried to kill me,” he grinned, his smile a death’s head grin.
“So I killed him first.” Sakura fell backwards with a horrified
expression on her face. Her jaw
shook, and her eyes were wide.
“You fucking bastard!” Naruto shouted, running towards Sasuke. “How could you?” he demanded, stopping
a few feet away from the raven-haired boy.
“He tried to kill me,” Sasuke repeated, focusing on Naruto. The red-haired man was still alive, but
was staying back. From his chakra,
Sasuke could tell that he was exhausted, and presented no real danger. /For now,/ Sasuke thought. /I’ll still have to kill him, or he’ll
get better and come after me./ Suddenly,
Sasuke rushed forward, his grin twisting into a look of horrid determination.
“And so are you!” he shouted, slamming his fist into Naruto’s face. Naruto flew back, rolled once, and pushed
himself to his feet. Sasuke had
already drawn a kunai, and was charging towards the defenseless boy. Viciously, Sasuke slashed Naruto’s gut,
aiming to disembowel the boy. There
was an explosion of ninja smoke, and Sasuke found his kunai embedded in a
log. He abandoned it, drawing
another, and spun around just in time to get punched in the gut by Naruto. Sasuke kept his footing, despite Naruto’s
strength, and jumped away from the fist. He circled wide around Naruto, using his
newfound speed to his advantage.
/He’s so much faster than he was,/ Naruto thought to himself, barely
able to keep his eyes on the incredibly fast boy. Suddenly, Sasuke charged in, and Naruto
leapt upwards. He barely cleared
Sasuke’s head, and the raven-haired boy circled around and dashed in again. After he landed, Naruto frantically dove
left, barely avoiding a slash that would have sliced his throat open. /There’s no way I can keep up with him
alone. Even with Kyuubi’s help,
he’d be faster,/ Naruto thought as he dodged another running slash. /He’s almost as fast as Taka!/
Again, Sasuke charged, but this time he threw shuriken as he advanced,
trying to keep Naruto within the path of his kunai. Naruto had no choice but to ready himself
for Sasuke’s inevitable charge. Trusting
his nerves, he suddenly performed a vicious chin kick. Sasuke was caught by it, and he flew up
and away from Naruto for a moment, his momentum reversed by the force of Naruto’s
kick. Then, Naruto felt pressure
on his foot. Sasuke had planted
his feet on Naruto’s, and used it as a springboard to regain control of his
flight. He flipped backwards
and flung a kunai through Naruto’s right hand. Naruto cried out as he stood, then shook
his hand hard. The kunai spun
out of his wound, and the two boys faced each other warily once again.
/I can’t use the Hisan na Saigo Ha,/ Naruto thought with a glance to
Sakura and Taka. /They’ll get
caught up in it too./
/He’s stuck,/ Sasuke thought with a grin. /He can’t use his blasting technique because
he’s afraid of killing those two rats./ Then his eyes widened as Naruto’s hands
came up to perform a jutsu. His
chakra flared, and the red of Kyuubi’s chakra poured out of the boy. Sasuke found himself a split second too
late to copy Naruto’s jutsu as he was performing it, but his Sharingan eyes
caught Naruto’s hand seals.
“Honshitsu Bunshin!” Naruto shouted, and was surrounded by a great
explosion of ninja smoke. Slowly,
the wind blew it away to reveal five clones, standing in a pentagon around
Naruo’s fallen form.
/He must’ve passed out from the jutsu,/ Sasuke thought; his eyes could
barely see any chakra around Naruto’s body. Then the clones charged, and Sasuke fell
back, defending himself. When
he had seen Naruto’s Honshitsu Bunshin the first time, Naruto had toyed with
him. Now, the clones were fighting
at full strength, and an obvious determination to save their creator.
The first clone dove at Sasuke, and the raven-haired boy vaulted over
it, planting his hands on its back and kicking his legs out to either side. He managed to clip a clone with his left
leg, but the one charging in on him from his right managed to duck its shoulder
a bit. Then, using the spinning
momentum that it had gained, it smashed its left fist into Sasuke’s face. The raven-haired boy fell backwards onto
the back of the very clone that he had vaulted. He rolled, coming forward and grabbed
the clone by the lapels on its jacket.
Sasuke continued his forward momentum and rolled onto the ground. He then planted a foot in the clone’s
stomach and kicked hard, even as he pulled the clone in his roll. The clone was sent flying, and Sasuke
rolled to his feet, just in time to get kicked in the stomach by a fourth
clone. Sasuke staggered back,
having lost his breath.
A fifth clone charged at him from behind and smashed him hard in the
back of the head, shouting, “U!” Another
found his right side, and slammed its fist into Sasuke’s neck, missing his
cheek by inches. The impact was
accompanied by a cry of, “Zu!” Then
Sasuke’s momentum was reversed by the third clone, which hit his face squarely,
shouting, “Ma!” Then, as Sasuke
knew was coming by this point, a fourth clone kicked him hard, in the underside
of the chin. His cry of, “Ki!”
rang clearly through the clearing.
Sasuke was floating for a moment in the air, but his face hurt all
over, and badly. /They’re stronger
than they were before,/ Sasuke thought frantically. /He must really be trying to kill me now!/
Then, the clone that he had thrown earlier was behind him, and kicked
Sasuke hard, sending him downwards.
“Naruto Rendan!” the clone shouted, following its kick with a vicious
punch. Sasuke fell to the ground
hard, crashing in the midst of the clones.
They did not attack as he slowly stood. Blood streamed from a cut in Sasuke’s
brow, and he was bruised all over. The
clones surrounded him and just stared at him, seeming to taunt Sasuke with
their superior numbers.
“Why’d ya do it?” one of them asked, and Sasuke realized that it was
actually crying. “You meant everything
to Kakashi-sensei.”
“Yeah,” another agreed, stepping forward. This one too, was beginning to tear up,
but it wiped its arm across its face.
“Just… Just… How could you?” it demanded, then punched Sasuke hard. The raven-haired boy tumbled backwards
and rolled a couple of times before he stopped. The clones did not pursue him. The four of them just stood there, staring
at him in grieving judgment. The
fifth, removed from the group by virtue of his airborne role in the combo,
made no move to join his comrades or advance on Sasuke.
Slowly, Sasuke pushed himself to his feet, using only his left hand. /They’ll kill me if they attack again,/
Sasuke worried, looking at the group, icy fear flowing through his veins. /There’s only one way. Enlightenment./ Slowly, he pulled the small, cream-colored
scroll from his jacket. Bits
of blood were now spattered on its outside, and his blood-soaked right hand
coated one side of the scroll with red blood. Summoning his remaining strength, Sasuke
tossed it upwards and began to perform hand seals.
“Shit!” one of the clones cried, bursting forward into a run. “Get him!” it shouted, and the others
broke into a charge as well. Their
advance only steeled Sasuke’s nerves, and his eyes narrowed.
“I’ll kill you!” Sasuke shouted, his eyes wild. He caught the scroll easily, and his hands
flew flawlessly and quickly together to form the hand seals required for his
jutsu. The clones hadn’t even
covered half of the distance between them when he finished.
“Shijuukaigan Sharingan!” Sasuke shouted, and again the physical world
faded from view. There was again
only chakra before his eyes, and power flowed through Sasuke’s veins like
fire. His arms and legs firmed
up for the second time that day as the Shijuukaigan Sharingan pushed him closer
to his true potential. Most of
all, however, his brain seemed to burn, as old memories were purged and new
thoughts were forced in. Sasuke
barely noticed; he had nothing that he cared to hold on to.
/Victims,/ he grinned viciously, eyeing the five approaching clones. /Killing them won’t be as satisfying as
the real thing, but there’s three prizes at the end,/ Sasuke decided, marking
Sakura, Naruto, and Taka. /Damn,/
he remembered. /Only two. The bitch has to live, for now./ The pink-haired girl herself was on the
ground, clutching her head as she rolled around in agony.
Sasuke blurred into motion, easily dodging the first clone’s attack. Almost dismissively, the raven-haired
boy plucked a kunai from the clone’s holster, then thrust the sharp dagger
through the base of its neck from behind, severing the spinal cord. It hung in the air for a moment, a comically
surprised look on its face, then exploded into a puff of smoke, the kunai
taken with it. The other clones
slowed to a stop and spread out warily. Sasuke could just imagine what they were
thinking, and he grinned viciously.
“You were so confident before,” Sasuke taunted them, his eyes wide
open and wild. “Where’d it all
go? Is the little clone squad rethinking its
plan?” The clones didn’t respond,
other than to arm themselves. Sasuke
grinned mockingly at them, allowing the clones their preparations.
/It’s all so clear now,/ he thought as he eyed the four combatants. /I’m no avenger. I’m a purger. I exist in this world to bring it to an
end. What a glorious destiny./ One of the clones snapped a branch on
a fallen tree, and the action brought Sasuke back to the present.
“Mmmmmm,” he sighed happily, eyeing his targets. “Time for the killing to start.” He held out his arms, and they crackled
with his new chakra. Soon, the
chakra coalesced into a Chidori, the unique chittering sound shattering the
false peacefulness that had fallen on the clearing. Then, a second Chidori formed in his other
palm, and one of the clones cursed.
“Shit,” it muttered, eyeing Sasuke nervously.
“I didn’t know that he had that much chakra,” another agreed, drawing
a second kunai. Sasuke grinned
wildly for a moment, then charged forward at a blinding speed.
Behind him, a clone shouted, “Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,” but Sasuke paid
it no mind. Armed with his newfound
speed, the first clone that he targeted didn’t even have a chance to dodge. It was pierced through the middle of the
chest by Sasuke’s right arm. A
look of pained failure crossed its face before it exploded into nothingness. Sasuke charged out of the smoke of its
demise towards a second clone, which had the misfortune of standing next to
its comrade. This one managed
to dodge left, then right as Sasuke tried to stab it with his remaining Chidori. A fallen tree behind it, however, did
the clone in when it tripped. Sasuke
rammed his arm through the clone’s head and into the tree that it had fallen
on. He stood up slowly, grinning
to himself in satisfaction.
Suddenly, a hail of shuriken filled the air, and Sasuke found himself
on the defensive. The first Honshitsu
Bunshin clone had divided itself into a host of Kage Bunshin clones, and the
dozens of copies were filling the air around Sasuke with shuriken so thickly
that, despite his incredible speed, Sasuke found himself being struck several
times by the sharpened metal stars.
Eventually, the hail slowed enough for Sasuke to escape. His Sharingan eyes searched the crowd
and located the one Honshitsu Bunshin clone among the horde. With a grin of bloodthirstiness, Sasuke
charged into the shocked crowd and disemboweled the Honshitsu Bunshin clone.
The area all around him exploded in a great shroud of ninja smoke as
the Kage Bunshin were dispelled by the Honshitsu Bunshin’s passing.
The shuriken that had embedded themselves into Sasuke vanished as well,
and Sasuke winced anew in pain.
/Damn it,/ he thought, his jaw clenched at the sheer number of wounds
that now dotted his body. /I’ll
bleed out if I don’t do something quickly./ About fifty feet away from him, the last
Honshitsu Bunshin clone stood nervously.
It clutched a kunai in each hand and watched Sasuke nervously as the
smoke cleared around him.
“Looks like it’s time for you to die, fox-boy,” Sasuke grinned, rubbing
the fingers of his right hand together.
Kakashi’s blood was still wet, and he enjoyed the texture of it on
his hands.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” the clone asked, its voice betraying
its surprise and fear. /Yes,/
Sasuke smiled as he thought. /It’s
fear. Naruto fears me; finally,
things have come full circle./
“Nothing is wrong,” Sasuke said, stepping forward. “For the first time in my life, everything
is right, Naruto. Everything.”
Another step forward. Another. Another.
“You used to be a good person,” Naruto accused, his eyes narrowing. Sasuke felt a moment of regret as Naruto’s
fear vanished into determination. “Now
look at you. You’re just like
your brother.”
“I’m nothing like him!” Sasuke roared, drawing a kunai. “Nothing at all. I’ll prove it when he gets here!”
“What?” Naruto wondered aloud, his eyebrows scrunching together in
confusion.
“Itachi is coming back,” Sasuke grinned, his anger vanished like a
springtime shower. “And he’s
coming for me this time. Not
you, me. And I’ll kill him this time.” Sasuke noticed out of the corner of his
eye that Sakura was climbing to her feet, albeit woozily. Her eyes glowed oddly to Sasuke, but then
he remembered why they would glow.
“And Sakura will be mine afterwards,” Sasuke declared, readying himself
to charge forward. He heard Sakura
gasp in surprise, and Naruto’s eyes narrowed in anger. “I’ll raze this town to the ground, and
I’ll paint the ashes with the blood of its former inhabitants. Then I’ll take the bitch,” he said coldly,
motioning to Sakura, “and I’ll keep killing and killing until there are only
the two of us left.”
“You’re right,” Naruto’s clone growled after a minute, its shock abating
quickly. “You’re nothing like
your brother. You make him look
like a fucking saint.”
“Shut up!” Sasuke roared, dashing forward. The clone tried to dodge, but Sasuke’s
rage-enhanced speed proved to be too much for it. Sasuke buried his kunai into the clone’s
stomach, and grinned savagely as its body squirmed, trying to maintain cohesion.
“I’ll leave the real you alive until the very end,” Sasuke decided,
breathing heavily into the clone’s face.
“You love this village so much; I can’t imagine a sweeter torture than
to force you watch as I kill every single person that lives in it.”
“I’ll kill you… you bastard,” the clone managed, gasping in pain. Sasuke broke out in laughter and twisted
his kunai viciously. The clone
exploded into ninja smoke, its chakra spent.
“Keep dreaming,” Sasuke addressed the smoke even as he moved out of
it. He saw Sakura cowering next
to Naruto’s body at his presence. He
blew her a mocking kiss, then moved determinedly towards the red-haired man.
/Che,/ he thought disappointedly.
/Only one prize here, I suppose./
“What are you?” the old man asked, sliding into a fighting stance.
“Uchiha Sasuke,” he replied smoothly, lazily spinning the kunai that
he had used to dispatch Naruto’s last clone.
“You’re a monster,” the man accused, then charged at Sasuke. He tried to clothesline the younger ninja
with his massive right gauntlet, but Sasuke ducked easily. As the red-haired man passed, Sasuke could
hear his heavy breathing. /He’s
tired. This won’t even be fun,/
Sasuke thought, his manic grin turning into a scowl. /If he can’t fight, it’s not worth drawing
it out,/ he decided after a moment’s consideration. When the old man charged forward again,
Sasuke allowed himself to be clipped by the gauntlet. He used the proximity that this allowed
him to bury his kunai in the man’s throat.
He stumbled forward a few paces, clutching at the dagger buried inside
of him. He fell to his knees,
then onto his face. Blood the
color of his hair poured out of his throat.
“Che. That wasn’t even
fun,” Sasuke snorted, walking over to the still-warm corpse. As he was about to leave, he looked again
at the heavy gauntlets on the red-haired man’s arms. Bending over, he tugged one off and slid
it onto his own arm.
“Perfect fit,” he grinned, and reached down to retrieve the other. Evidently, Sakura had found her voice
behind him.
“God, Sasuke,” she cried, her usually clear voice ruined by sobbing. “Why? You didn’t need to. We would have taken you back!” Sasuke turned, still pulling the second
gauntlet on, and looked at her. “Even
after you killed Kakashi-sensei. All you had to do was ask!”
“Haven’t you learned by now?” Sasuke asked, grinning. He walked over to her slowly, and Sakura’s
sobbing turned into terror at the sight of the advancing blood-covered avatar
of death before her. He bent
over her, and the fetid smell of drying blood and Sasuke’s breath washed over
Sakura. Somehow, she couldn’t
pull together the force of will to draw a kunai and attack the raven-haired
boy.
“I don’t need anyone,” Sasuke declared quietly, grabbing her chin. He pulled her in forcefully and kissed
her hard. Sakura squirmed and
tried to pull away, but his grip was iron.
Then, Sasuke released her and ran into the forest, laughing like a
maniac.
“I’ll see you later, Sakura-chan,” Sasuke’s voice echoed back at her, his tone a twisted mockery of the cheerful childhood nickname that Naruto had bestowed upon her. Sakura collapsed over Naruto’s unconscious body and tried her best to forget the horrible memory of Sasuke’s kiss. Underneath her eyelids, her Sharingan eyes whirled slowly, in silent mockery of her foolishness.
“Distortions
from Dark Matter,” by Jonathon Striker.
This is a GREAT remix of Magus’s theme from Chrono Trigger.
Character
Themes:
Sorano
Taka: “Dr. Stuard,” by Jeff n Toad Air Team Challengers. This is a very high-quality remix of a
F-Zero GX song.
New
Moves:
Katon: Hisan na Saigo Ha no Jutsu- Fire Element: Catastrophic Ruin Wave Skill. This technique releases chakra from all over the body, and channels it in the form of a shockwave. The effective range of this technique is great- a sphere of approximately 300 square yards, making it functionally inescapable. Damage depends on the relative closeness to the user. At a range of 150 yards or more, a person would be knocked off their feet. At up to 50 yards, the target is hit with enough force to send them flying hard enough to break bones, if they land poorly. At up to 25 yards, internal damage can occur in addition to this. Any closer, and internal damage is nearly guaranteed. At that range, there’s a good chance of death for the untrained. This technique can be used to blast away ranged weapons, and even ranged jutsus. It is optimally used as a counter-attack skill.
Uchi-kudaku Ude Toppu- Shattering Arm Blast. This technique is a high-powered taijutsu technique. The user gains a great deal of height, then rebounds to slam into his target with a great deal of force. Taka is able to enhance the potency of this maneuver with his gauntlets, which add both weight and impact strength to the maneuver. In terms of single-hit impact power, it is comparable to the Secondary Lotus, but is much easier to dodge. The Lotus, on the other hand, is almost unstoppable. A simple Kawarimi can often upset the success of this maneuver.
Hayasa no Oto no Jutsu- Speed of Sound Skill. This technique uses a great deal of chakra to actively push all air molecules away from the user of the technique. This allows a speed specialist to gain even more speed, due to lack of air resistance. It is, by necessity, a time-limited skill, due both to the user’s chakra reserves and his need to breathe. It can, however, be the difference between winning and losing a speed-dependant battle.
Hiko no Jutsu- Flight Skill. This is ninjutsu of the highest order. It buffets the user from underneath with enough wind to cause him or her to float. The chakra drain from its’ use, however, is breathtaking. As such, it is most often used as an emergency escape skill, or to save one’s hide from a very, very high fall.
Chui Na Me no Jutsu- Mind’s Eye Skill. This mid-level genjutsu feeds upon it’s target’s perceived weaknesses. Once cast, when it’s target perceives that he or she is leaving an opening for an attack, they will see and hear the caster making an attack on them in that method. This often creates the illusion of several copies of the caster, in addition to the real user. The objective of this skill is to create an opening that the caster actually can take advantage of. This technique, however, does burn through chakra fairly quickly, so maintaining it for any real length of time is impractical and unwise.