When Sasuke woke up the next morning, the Uchiha stared in silence as Sakura remained asleep, studying her with his Sharingan. Though he wanted to let her sleep, he also knew that leaving sooner than later would be for the best. If they were to be distracted, it would only set them back, Sasuke reasoned. After allowing the woman to sleep for a few more seconds, Sasuke cleared his throat as he sat up. "Sakura," Sasuke began, staring once more, his Sharingan spinning. "We have to leave soon," Sasuke explained. Sakura hummed softly as she opened her eyes, glancing up at Sasuke. She stared, as if confused, but soon nodded and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up.
"Right," Sakura murmured as she stretched, groaning softly as she cracked her back. "That was very relaxing," Sakura spoke up. When Sasuke glanced over, Sakura smiled and explained, "Sleeping under the stars, I mean." Sasuke gave a nod as he helped her up.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it."
"After we get ready, we can head out," Sasuke said as he carried the large blanket as the two made their way back up towards his house. "Shower, get something to eat, whatever you need. We can head out as soon as we're set." Sakura gave a nod and offered a smile. After opening the door for Sakura Sasuke followed her inside and walked off to put the blanket away, calling back, "Eat whatever you want, Sakura. My clone picked up a few things while we were out yesterday."
Sakura looked around the kitchen after Sasuke left before she went over and checked the fridge. She looked at her choices and smiled a bit. Sasuke's clone had gotten a carton of eggs, a thing of orange juice and a small thing of bacon. Knowing Sasuke didn't like sweets that much, Sakura called out, "Sasuke, did you get any coffee? I could make some for you if you want." There was a long pause, the sound of the shower running filling the silence. As she waited, Sakura began to cook the eggs and bacon, humming softly to herself. She was in a very good mood that morning.
"Coffee would be great, thanks," Sasuke finally called back. Sakura gave a nod to herself and quickly made handsigns, the created clone moving over to begin the coffee as the real Sakura worked on the food. When the food was cooked, and the coffee was made, Sakura set them on the table and sat down, her clone popping into a cloud of smoke. Sakura ate slowly, her thoughts focused on the journey she and Sasuke would soon be leaving on. Where would they go first? What sort of things did Sasuke want to do on his trip? Sakura also wondered about something Sasuke had said the previous day. Sasuke had said he saw a woman with long black hair, when the only two that had been in the room were Sasuke and herself. "Who was he talking about...?" Sakura asked herself with a soft sigh.
"I don't know who it was, but I only saw her for a moment," Sasuke answered her. Sakura had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the Uchiha coming into the kitchen. Sakura jumped a bit at the surprise before letting out a long sigh, offering a smile as Sasuke took a seat at the table. "I'll look into it, though. She felt almost...familiar, though. I don't know why," Sasuke explained before taking a sip of coffee. After setting the cup down, Sasuke stared silently at Sakura, working over in his mind how to explain the first stop of their trip.
"So...I have to make a stop and say sorry," Sasuke said slowly, clearing his throat. "I was a bastard back then and...well...I need to say sorry and make things better."
"Who is it?" Sakura questioned.
"Karin Uzumaki. She saved my life many times with her healing, and in the end I was willing to stab a Chidori spear right through her just to get to my target, AND tried to get you to kill her. So...I need...or want, to make things better. That's a big part of our trip, after all. Making things better, me trying to be a better person." Sakura gave a nod of understanding, smiling a little, happy that Sasuke wanted to be a better person.
"So we're going to go see...Karin, first?" Sakura asked after a small pause, a small frown coming to her face. Sakura didn't exactly like the redheaded woman, with how clingy she acted around Sasuke. But if Sasuke wanted to apologize and make things right, how could Sakura possibly say no? The two soon finished their breakfast and quickly washed the dishes before heading outside. It was a beautiful morning, the sun shining and the sky clear of clouds. The two looked at the sky for several seconds before Sasuke pulled out a small scroll and unrolled it on the ground. Placing a hand on the seal inside, he sent his chakra into it. After a small flash of light, Sasuke's pet hawk was summoned, the bird landing lightly on Sasuke's shoulder. The hawk was a snow white color, her wings having black at the tips. She was a little small, though Sasuke liked the bird because of how quickly it could fly. He thought it was very useful for when he needed to get messages delivered quickly.
"Hello, Natsumi," Sasuke greeted the bird in a gentle voice, a smile on his face. "I'm going to send you ahead to let Karin know we're stopping by," Sasuke explained. After writing a small note, Sasuke attached it to Natsumi's leg and the bird took off.
"New hawk? She's beautiful," Sakura commented, watching the bird fly away.
"I actually found her about a month ago," Sasuke replied, looking over to Sakura with his small smile. "She was hurt, so I nursed her back to health. I was planning to let her go, but, well, she seems to enjoy staying with me," he explained with a shrug before he motioned for Sakura to follow as he began to walk, putting the summoning scroll away as he headed towards the village gates. Though Sasuke had been upset the previous night, Sakura noticed that he seemed to be in a good mood as the two walked together. Sasuke was even keeping his small smile. Seeing Sasuke happy, Sakura couldn't help but smile herself.
"Any other new friends?" Sakura asked with a soft grin. Sasuke took a moment to think it over before he nodded, glancing at the medic.
"A new snake, actually. Naga. I've had her for a while now, actually. She had babies a little ago, actually, though they are too young to use in battle. Naga's saved my life a few times. She's a great snake." Sasuke paused for a moment before adding to explain, "A few people have tried to poison me in a fight. She removes the poisons for me, so no worries about any damage done." Sakura gave a small nod though seem a little uncomfortable about learning people tried poisoning the Uchiha. When the two arrived at the gates they were stopped by the guards on duty.
"Whoa, where are ya going, Sakura-san?" one guard, a young man named Toro, asked. "I haven't seen ya leave in a looong time. Aren't you supposed to be at the hospital...?" Sakura gave a soft smile and pulled out the passport Kakashi had given her, opening it up to show Toro.
"Kakashi-sensei gave me permission to leave with Sasuke-kun for a while," Sakura explained. Toro checked the passport before giving it back, the man glancing at Sasuke.
"You...uh...are leaving with the Uchiha?" Toro finally asked, seeming a little bothered. "But, doesn't the hospital need you?!"
"Well...I put Ino in charge for now. It'll be fine, I trust Ino enough to run the hospital. Besides, there's no way in hell I'm letting Sasuke just wander off alone again! I've waited this long, no way am I just going to let him leave again."
Toro took another quick look at Sasuke and frowned a bit. "Well...okay I guess," he finally said, nodding that they could leave.
"Bye, Toro," Sakura called out as they began leaving the village. "Tell your mom I said hi!"
"Sure thing! Bye bye, beautiful!" Toro called back with a goofy grin.
Sasuke paused mid-step at Toro's words and slowly turned to face him, his Rinnesharingan slowly forming in his left eye, his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan coming to the right. "Don't flirt with my girlfriend," Sasuke said in a calm tone. Only a second of looking into Toro's eyes is all it took for him to fall, Sasuke knocking him out with a genjutsu from his Rinnesharingan. Sakura gasped as Toro fell and glared at Sasuke. From her anger, the pink haired woman actually slapped Sasuke across the face.
"Sasuke! What the hell?! It was just a compliment!" Sakura shouted, clenching her fists.
"Flirting," Sasuke replied, his face already becoming red where she slapped him. "Would you relax? It was a harmless genjutsu. I've survived way worse than the things I showed Toro." At his words, Sakura glared a little more.
"Sasuke! He's, like, 17!" Sakura pointed out.
"So...? When I was that age, I was murdered by one of the strongest Uchihas during a war and found out I was the reincarnation of the man who created ninjutsu," Sasuke replied, crossing his arms as his eyes slowly returned to their normal black color. "Plus, it was a weak genjutsu. He'll wake up in around an hour. What's the big deal? I didn't hurt him."
"That man, Indra right? His name? The father of your clan? The man you are the reincarnation of?" Sakura questioned. Sasuke slowly gave a nod, Sakura's next words making him feel terrible. "Do you think Indra would be happy to know the LAST Uchiha was acting like nothing more than a thug?" Sasuke slowly uncrossed his arms, a small frown coming to his face as he stared at the angry woman in front of him. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sakura simply turned and said, "Whatever, I guess. Let's just go, Sasuke," before she began to walk. As they left the village, Sakura called back to the guards, "Let Toro know I hope he's okay. And if he isn't, you better have the hospital call me." With that, Sakura became silent as they walked, soon out of sight from the guards. Sasuke watched Sakura silently, the Uchiha still frowning at her words. He wondered, briefly, how Indra WOULD react to how Sasuke had reacted to Toro flirting a little with Sakura. Sasuke had to admit, he did react harshly. But, the old Sasuke would have simply killed someone who annoyed him. He figured a weak genjutsu wasn't too bad, but he could see why it angered Sakura. Sighing, Sasuke ran a hand through his hair before reaching out, grabbing Sakura lightly by the wrist.
"Sakura. You can't deny I reacted better than I would have in the past," Sasuke pointed out as Sakura pulled free from his grip.
"Sasuke. Let's just drop it, alright? Talking about it doesn't change anything, so why waste time?" Sakura asked. Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but Sakura cut him off by quickly saying, "Besides, we need to go see Karin so you can say sorry and anything else you feel you need to do. Wouldn't want to be late."
Sasuke gave a sigh but shut up, figuring it was best to just leave Sakura alone for a while.
The two had been traveling for nearly an hour when Sasuke's hawk Natsumi returned, the bird landing softly on Sasuke's shoulder. She had a small note tied around her leg, and as Sasuke walked he took the note and began to read to himself. The Uchiha soon gave a soft sigh and crumpled up the letter, a darkness coming to his eyes. Sakura noticed, and despite their fight she wanted to know what was wrong.
"What is it?"
Sasuke remained silent, a look of annoyance spreading across his features. Natsumi remained on his shoulder, simply waiting to see if she would be needed again.
"Sasuke? Hello?" Sakura repeated, tapping his bandaged hand softly to get his attention. The Uchiha blinked, his anger melting away as his focus turned to the pink haired medic.
"Wait? Oh, sorry. It would seem that Orochimaru will be at the base we're heading to. I was hoping to avoid seeing him, but it seems that won't be possible. I guess we won't be staying as long as planned," Sasuke explained, handing Sakura the crushed note so she could read it herself. "We're not far from the base," Sasuke told her, motioning to Natsumi that she could leave if she wished. The hawk took off, though chose to stay close, simply flying high above the two in case she was needed again. "Just...Sakura, be on guard, alright? Orochimaru may claim to have changed since the war, but I don't trust him at all. You shouldn't, either, or you could end up dead. I mean, he claims to have changed since the war, claiming he is no longer evil. But when I last saw him, he looked much younger, so he's obviously still stealing a person's body." Sakura gave a small nod, looking angry at Orochimaru's actions.
"So he pretty much hasn't changed at all, has he?" the pink haired medic asked.
"Not at all, in my opinion. He's just not dumb enough to openly cause trouble. He knows me or Naruto could kill him in seconds if he tried anything."
When the two neared the base, they saw a group of angry men at the entrance, the leader of the group shouting as he banged on the door. "Let us in, you fuckers!" the man yelled, banging on the door three times before he lowered his hand. Sasuke 20 men at least, each man looking ready to fight at any moment. Sasuke and Sakura stood still, watching quietly before the Uchiha gave a soft sigh, shaking his head.
"If we want in, we'll need to get through them," Sasuke muttered, placing his Zetsu hand on the hilt of his katana. "So I guess we better kill them quick-"
"Sasuke, could you try just once to not jump to killing as a first response? Come on, I'm sure just seeing you should send them away. You're practically a god, no way would they be dumb enough to attack you." Sasuke stared at Sakura with a small glare but finally just sighed and took his hand off his katana, giving a small nod.
"Fine, Sakura. But I'm not promising anything. If they attack, then whatever happens happens."
With that, Sasuke approached the group, whistling to get their attention. "I need to get inside, and your men are in the way. Any chance you can get out of our way?" Sasuke called to the leader, the man turning to face him, glaring at the Uchiha.
"We're not leaving until this snakeface fucker pays us!" the leader shouted back.
"Tch...What's your name?"
"I'm Kenji, why the fuck do you care?"
Sasuke stared.
"Well, Kenji, I need to get inside. So if you could stop screeching about being owed money..."
"I told you, we aren't leaving until this fucker pays us! We gave him what he wanted, so he better pay up!" Kenji yelled back, clenching his fists. Sasuke glanced at Sakura, getting annoyed.
"And what exactly is he paying you for?" Sasuke asked after taking a moment to calm down, not wanting to start a fight if he didn't have to.
"Orochimaru paid us to give him a few of the criminals from our village. He says he needs them for experiments, something about trying to make a body last longer. So we gave the bastard five prisoners, but he hasn't paid us, and that was over a month ago," Kenji explained, turning back to pound on the door again. Sasuke glared as the man turned away, his hand slowly moving back onto his katana.
"Last chance. I need to get inside, and I'm trying to ask nicely. Are you going to get out of my way or not?"
"I already told you, you deaf asshole, we aren't leaving until we get our money!"
With that, Sasuke sighed and looked at Sakura, giving a small shrug. "I'll do my best not to kill any of them," he promised her before he ran into the crowd of men. Once in the middle, Sasuke slammed his hand down, a surge of electricity leaving his body in each direction to shock the men. The jutsu only knocked out five of them, and the rest, now even more pissed off, turned on Sasuke, hopping back from him. Sasuke stood, quickly doing handsigns. Before he could use his jutsu, he saw Sakura rushing by him at the men. Sakura jumped up, slamming her fist down in front of the group as she landed. The ground exploded, sending men flying left and right, some crashing into the base with a loud thud.
"Hey, I can help out too, damn it!" Sakura called to Sasuke as she began dodging Kenji's attacks, a grin on her face despite the two of them being in a fight. Sasuke watched, a small smirk coming to his face before nodding and rushing in to join Sakura. The two split up, Sakura rushing one side of the group as Sasuke rushed the rest. Slamming his hand down, Sasuke sent a stream of Chidori at his targets. The men jumped to avoid the attack, and Sasuke smirked, doing a quick handsign. From the end of the stream, under the men, chunks of the ground shot up, slamming into the men. Sasuke stood, jumping up to come face to face with Kenji. He kicked off the man's chest, sending him slamming into the ground below while Sasuke was launched at his men. Sasuke threw his katana at one of the men, the man dodging easily. Sasuke used his Rinnesharingan to switch places with his blade, the sword stabbing into the ground as Sasuke grabbed the man and pulled him close. They fell, and at the last second Sasuke moved to slam his foot into his chest, slamming the man roughly into the ground. The man coughed blood, but Sasuke moved on after seeing he was still alive. Using Almighty Pull, Sasuke pulled his katana back to him and smirked as he ducked, barely dodging a barrage of shuriken flying at him. "Oh, shuriken huh? Let me show you how it's done, then!" Sasuke laughed and jumped back, making nine clones. Sasuke and the clones began quickly throwing their shuriken at the group, throwing fast enough that they were unable to dodge. They let out a yell of pain and fell, a few quickly getting back on their feet. Sasuke's clones popped and he rushed at Kenji. Kenji quickly did handsigns and a moment later let out a massive fireball, the ball of flames flying quickly at Sasuke. It seemed to hit him, but suddenly part of a nearby tree was taking Sasuke's place, the Uchiha appearing on what was left of the tree. He saw the flames were still going, and glared when he saw it was heading for Sakura. Sakura was too distracted with her fight to notice, and so before it could hit the woman Sasuke formed a Susanoo ribcage around her, the arms forming to catch the massive fireball. Sakura blinked when she felt the heat and looked behind her, chuckling a little shyly as she saw Susanoo.
"Sorry, Sasuke! Was a bit distracted! Been awhile since we've been in battle, huh?" Sakura called out. "Thanks for the save!" With that, Sakura rushed the last man in her group, dodging his punches as she stayed close. When she got an opening, Sakura smirked and slammed her chakra-covered fist into the man's stomach, sending the man crashing through several trees.
When it was just Kenji left standing, Sasuke motioned for Sakura to jump back, and once she did Sasuke summoned a circle of Amaterasu to keep Kenji from moving anywhere, the flames rising high each time he tried leaving the flame prison. With him trapped, Sasuke stepped forward, putting his katana away with a smirk. Kenji's men lay on the ground around them, some knocked out, some groaning in pain.
"Look, Kenji. Just leave now, and let us deal with Orochimaru. But if you get in our way again, we'll just have to beat you down some more. Do you understand?"
"YOU LITTLE PUNK, YOU THINK I'D LISTEN TO YOU?!"
"I said, do you understand?" Sasuke did slow handsigns before holding his hand out. Slowly, his snake Naga slithered out of his sleeve and towards the man. The Amaterasu parted for her, and she slowly began to wrap her way up the man's leg, tightening a little as she moved. Naga knew not to kill unless told, so she was simply going to scare the man. Once up his body, she stared at him, her eyes cold as ice. Kenji shivered, struggling against the snake but finally looked down, frowning.
"Fine, punk, we'll leave. But if we ever meet again, you'll regret it," Kenji muttered. Sasuke gave a nod, seemingly bored by the man's threat. Naga moved down and back onto the ground, moving up Sasuke until she was wrapped lightly up his arm. Sasuke offered the snake a smile, watching as Kenji and his men left, some of them having to use clones to help move the knocked out men. When they were gone, Sasuke watched as Naga slid back up his sleeve, the snake vanishing back to where he had summoned her from.
Sasuke stepped up to the door, knocking softly before glancing at Sakura. "If this doesn't take too long, we can keep traveling today. If not, we'll rest then continue tomorrow. I'm not sure how long it could take to get Karin to...well, to not hate me. After all, I did stab a Chidori through her then ordered you to kill her, and I haven't seen her since the war."
When the door finally opened, Karin stood there with a furious look in her eyes, growling as she spoke. "DAMN IT, I TOLD YOU IDIOTS TO LEAVE ALREAD-...Sasuke?" The Uzumaki's expression began to soften, but soon the anger returned. Without hesitation, Karin slapped the Uchiha as hard as she could across his face and began screaming once more. "YOU JACKASS, YOU TRY TO KILL ME, ORDER PINKEY HERE TO FINISH ME OFF, THEN AFTER THE WAR YOU DON'T EVEN BOTHER SAYING SORRY TO ME?!" Sasuke raised his hand, rubbing his cheek slowly to ease the pain. He was actually impressed at how hard the woman could hit when she was pissed. When Karin tried to slap him again, though, Sasuke easily caught her by the wrist, shaking his head with a soft sigh.
"Karin, would you just listen for a moment? I came here because I wanted to say I was sorry, and to ask you if you could maybe forgive me," Sasuke explained quickly, speaking fast because he saw Karin raising her other hand to hit him. The Uzumaki paused, staring at him with an unsure look. Slowly, Sasuke let go of her wrist, holding his hands up in a "don't hit me" gesture. When Karin made no further attempts to hit him, Sasuke slowly lowered his hands, offering the woman an awkward smile. It was hard for Sasuke to ask someone for forgiveness, but he really wanted to make things better between him and Karin. He knew how the woman felt about him, Karin making it very obvious when they used to be in the same team. Sasuke of course didn't feel the same way, but he hoped maybe the two could be friends at the very least.
"Can we come in?" the Uchiha asked after Karin stared at him for several seconds.
"Oh! Right, of course, Sasuke," the redhead replied, moving out of the way to let the two inside. She began to walk, motioning for the two of them to follow. They walked for a while through the dark base, the halls barely lit by torches. Sakura remained close to Sasuke, the Uchiha taking her hand to lead her. He could see just fine thanks to his Sharingan. When they entered a large room, Sasuke looked around, seeing a large table with scrolls and books laying around, the shelves in the room full of scrolls and books as well. Sasuke glanced at Karin, raising a brow.
"Light reading?" he questioned.
Karin smiled shyly and looked around.
"Oh, well...Orochimaru lets me study these when I'm not busy, so..."
Sasuke stepped up to the table, pausing when he saw a note on one of the many books. It was in Orochimaru's handwriting. Sasuke studied it with his Sharingan, reading it out loud.
"Karin, I've finished up with Mar's lesson for the day. I need you to clean the room and get it set up for later." Sasuke froze for a moment before reaching into his pocket, pulling out the small Uchiha necklace he had found the other day. He held it up, showing Karin, the Uchiha suddenly becoming very serious. Sakura looked at the necklace, looking confused.
"Huh? Why do you have an Uchiha necklace?" she questioned.
Voice serious, eyes cold, Sasuke said, "I found it the other day when I was coming home, Sakura. I find this, blood, and a note. And I heard somebody scream the name 'Mar'." Setting the small necklace on the table, Sasuke faced Karin, his harsh gaze making the woman flinch.
"W...What? I didn't do anything!" Karin shouted, though she seemed very nervous suddenly.
"The note," Sasuke began, shaking his head, "was begging for help. Said he was hurt more when his brother wasn't around. Want to explain what the hell that meant? Who is Mar, Karin?" Karin frowned, looking to Orochimaru's note on the table.
"I...I don't know, okay...?" she whispered. Sasuke slammed his fist down on the table, Karin jumping from shock. "I swear, Sasuke! I've never met this Mar guy! Orochimaru has me set up the room, and clean it after, but I've never met him!" Karin promised quickly. Sakura placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, holding him back as he took a step towards Karin.
"Sasuke, just take a breath, I'm sure Karin can explain if you give her a second. Just, calm down and listen."
The minute of silence it took Sasuke to reply was the longest minute of Karin's life, the woman's eyes full of fear at the anger Sasuke had shown. Finally, he spoke.
"Fine. I'll listen, but I want answers."
With that, the three sat at the table, Sakura sitting by Sasuke's side, Karin sitting on the other side of the table.
"The Uchiha necklace. Where'd it come from?" Sasuke asked, handing it over to the Uzumaki. Karin examined the small item, noticing it had some blood on the Uchiha crest. She frowned as she looked up, shaking her head.
"Maybe it belongs to this Mar guy? I don't know, Sasuke..."
Sasuke took a breath, taking the necklace back. He wasn't sure why he was so angry over it. Things involving his clan set him off easy, though, so he assumed the necklace was messing with him.
"Okay, and the note?"
"What exactly did it say?"
Sasuke paused to pull out a scroll that he sealed the note into and summoned it, setting it on the table. Sakura and Karin looked at the bloody note, Karin looking a little nervous and Sakura looking curious. Sasuke cleared his throat and began to read.
"Dear Brahma: Please come back soon, brother. I'm scared. It hurts. With you gone, he hurts me even more. Please save me." Finished reading, Sasuke looked up at Karin. "Know anyone named Brahma? Why is Orochimaru hurting this 'Mar' guy, Karin?"
Karin slowly shook her head, unsure of what to tell the angry Uchiha. She studied his features, his cold eyes, then looked down at the note.
"Look...I...All I know is a few times a day Orochimaru has me set up a sort of...torture room, I guess you could call it that. I hear screams for a while, but they always suddenly stop. When he calls me in, nobody is in there. Just...just blood. So I have to clean up after him, and later set up again when he calls me back. He doesn't say what he's up to. Just says 'perhaps this will be the one?'" Sasuke stood up suddenly, putting the bloody note away with the necklace. His EMS flashed into his right eye, the Rinnesharingan forming in the left.
"Is Orochimaru here right now? I want to talk to him. Maybe he can give me more answers than you can. I want to know more about this Mar person. And...if nothing else, maybe I can get Orochimaru to stop torturing for his little experiments. I usually wouldn't care, as long as he's not causing trouble, but this trip I'm on...It's all about me becoming a better person. And a good person wouldn't just ignore something like torture." After a pause, Sasuke looked at Karin, softening his gaze a little. He didn't come here to yell at the woman, after all. "I'm sorry. I just want to figure out what all this is about. Anyways, where is the snake?"
"He's...hm...he should be on the other side of the compound, in his room. He'll be there, or...try the training room. Likely at one of those places," Karin replied quietly, relaxing if only a little when Sasuke's tone became softer. Sasuke gave a small nod before looking at Sakura, offering the woman a small smile.
"Sakura? Do you want to come with me? Or do you want to wait here?"
Sakura didn't even hesitate, standing up to join him.
"Hey, I'm not gonna let you go see a monster like Orochimaru without backup," Sakura commented and followed as Sasuke began to walk. Karin hesitated, but soon she too began to follow, staying quiet as they traveled through the halls. Sasuke paused every now and then, looking around with a confused look.
"Did you guys hear that?" Sasuke finally asked after stopping for the third time, the Uchiha frowning a little as he looked around.
"Hear what?" Sakura and Karin asked, the two women looking a little confused.
"It sounded like-"
Before Sasuke could finish his words, the trio heard a loud screaming coming from further in the compound. Sasuke tensed, placing his zetsu hand on his katana. Sakura pulled a kunai out of her weapon pouch, gripping it tightly as she looked around, and Karin got in a battle stance.
"Karin, what is it?" Sasuke whispered, glancing at the Sensor woman. Karin closed her eyes for a moment before opening them, looking nervous.
"It...It feels pretty angry, like it wants to kill," Karin whispered back. "Whoever or whatever it is isn't happy." Sasuke gave a small nod at Karin's response, his Mangekyou scanning the hallway around them. He didn't see anything, though soon the screaming could be heard once more. The three looked at each other for just a second before they began to run, Karin leading the group towards the source of the screams. The three ended up in one of Orochimaru's labs, and once inside they paused, looking at all the destruction.
Most of the people working in the lab had been killed, their bodies covered in burns. The lab itself was mostly ruined, equipment destroyed, machines thrown around, the walls cracked with what looked like punches. In the middle of the room, Karin, Sakura and Sasuke discovered just what had been causing all the trouble.
In the middle of the room stood a very large creature, the beast standing at least 10 feet tall, standing on two legs like a human. It's skin was a black stone, with lava seemingly flowing between the cracks of rock. It's eyes glowed like embers, a burning anger held in them. A scientist tried to run from the monster, but it grabbed him, easily wrapping its large hand around his face as it lifted him into the air. The scientist screamed in pain as his face was being burned from contact with the beast, but his screams died out when the monster snapped his neck and threw him across the lab. Sasuke, Sakura and Karin dodged the body and landed near the beast. Its focus turned to Sasuke, the monster staring directly at him with a look of pure hatred in its eyes. It ran at Sasuke, its size causing the ground to crack under its feet as it ran at the Uchiha. Sasuke dodged a punch, ducking just before the hit could connect with his face. He knew a hit from a monster like that would do a lot of damage. Jumping back to avoid another hit, Sasuke shouted, "Karin, what the hell is this thing?" Sasuke let out a shout of pain as the lava monster grabbed him by the ankle, gripping hard as it slammed the Uchiha down. The force of the slam cracked the floor beneath him and Sasuke coughed up blood. Before the beast could follow up with a punch to Sasuke's chest, it suddenly staggered, a good portion of its torso shattering as Sakura slammed a chakra-charged punch into the monster.
"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HIM!" Sakura shouted, giving a spinning kick to the beast's face. Sakura's hit landed, knocking the beast back once more, its face broken as well. As Sakura and Karin helped Sasuke up, they stared in shock as the beast began to heal, its body soon back to perfect condition.
"This is not going to be fun," Sasuke muttered under his breath. The monster, once again, was staring directly at Sasuke. Without another moment of hesitation, the three split up, Sasuke staying in front of the beast as Sakura jumped to be on its right side, Karin taking the left. "Don't let it grab you, you'll get burned," Sasuke warned the women, Karin and Sakura nodding as they took note. Sakura rushed the lava monster, attempting to give it a mountain-shattering punch to the torso again. The beast switched its focus from Sasuke to Sakura, swinging its large arm fast enough to catch Sakura across the face. The Haruno woman let out a pained cry as she was sent flying into the wall of the lab, her cheek burned from the hit. Seeing Sakura wounded angered Sasuke and the Uchiha let out a snarl as he rushed the monster. It attempted to hit him as he neared him, but he quickly dodged and spun behind it before hopping up onto it's back. He covered himself in a small Susanoo armor to protect against the heat before doing quick handsigns. "Chidor-" Sasuke froze with his Chidori an inch from hitting the beast in the shoulder. In his head, Sasuke could heard a voice whispering "Don't use chakra attacks, it'll drain them..."
His moment of distraction gave the beast enough time to throw Sasuke off, the Uchiha grunting as he crashed into Sakura. The two quickly got up, Sasuke holding his head as it began to pound.
"Sakura, Karin, don't...don't use any Ninjutsu. It'll absorb the attack," Sasuke quickly told the two. "We'll have to rely on normal attacks like during the war, against Madara," Sasuke added. The two looked confused, wondering how Sasuke knew what to do but finally gave a nod. As the beast neared Sasuke and Sakura, it was suddenly stopped as chains began to wrap around its body, holding it in place. Karin struggled to keep the monster in place, her Uzumaki chains barely able to keep it from advancing on Sasuke and Sakura. Even so, it gave Sasuke and Sakura time to roll out of the way, getting up next to Karin. The Uzumaki released the jutsu, the chains fading from her back.
"Thanks, Karin!" Sakura shouted as she hopped at the monster, slamming her fist into its back as hard as she could. She hopped back before her hand broke through the stone body of the beast, drops of lava 'blood' falling from the wound. Sasuke put his hands together, closing his eyes as small Susanoo armors covered Sakura, Karin and himself, his katana being covered as well to deal more damage.
"This should offer protection, but don't risk anything if you don't have to," Sasuke told the group. He then ran in and began to fight the beast. The monster swung quick punches at Sasuke, but the Uchiha quickly blocked with his Susanoo-enhanced katana, even managing to cut chunks off the beast when he got an opening. The rocky body parts fell to the ground, turning to ash in seconds. Even with the damage from Sakura's punch and Sasuke's cuts, the monster simply kept healing. Turning its focus from Sasuke to Karin, the Uzumaki woman trying to lure the beast away from the Uchiha, the monster rushed the woman and put its hands together, bringing them down hard like a hammer at the redheaded woman. Before the attack could land, Sasuke was in front of the Uzumaki, blocking the attack with his katana. He struggled as the beast kept trying to push him down. Slowly, the Susanoo cover on his katana began to break before the blade itself shattered. Sasuke grabbed Karin and threw a kunai across the room. Before the monster could hit the two, at the very last second, Sasuke used his Rinnesharingan to switch places with the kunai. The kunai stuck into the beast's right shoulder, an explosive tag wrapped around the kunai handle. With a single handsign, the kunai blew up, causing the monster's arm to explode as well, his entire right side slowly crumbling to ash. Sasuke knew the damage wouldn't give them much time, however. As the Uchiha set Karin down, the woman blushed and stared at him, looking surprised.
"Y...you...saved me?" she whispered. The Uzumaki couldn't help but feel surprised. Before the war, Sasuke had impaled her on a Chidori spear just to get to his target. He called her a burden when Danzo grabbed her as a human shield, saying she was of no use to him anymore if she could get captured so easily. And yet here the Uchiha was, just two years after the war, saving her life without hesitation. It seemed the Uchiha really had been trying to change.
"Of course I saved you. I'd be a monster to just let you die," Sasuke replied. "But listen, we need to try getting this monster outside, then attack it with everything we have. When it's weakened enough, I'm going to try to open a portal to trap it in another dimension," Sasuke explained quickly. "It seems to keep targeting me, so lets get its attention." Karin and Sakura nodded and ran from the room. Sasuke stayed behind, wanting to lead the monster out. When the lava monster's body had healed once more, Sasuke threw a simple kunai at it to get its attention. The monster turned to Sasuke and glared before dashing for the Uchiha. Sasuke turned quickly and began running as well, looking behind him every now and then to check if the monster was following. It was, and was even gaining on Sasuke, the tall beast letting out a loud scream of pure rage. Sasuke quickly turned a corner, the beast crashing into the wall before it continued chasing the Uchiha. Down the hall, Sasuke could see a large opening, Sakura and Karin standing by it.
"Sasuke, out this way!" Sakura shouted.
"Hurry! It's right behind you!" Karin added.
Sasuke nodded to himself before he focused chakra to his feet, crouching low before he pushed off the ground, launching himself the rest of the way down the hallway. Sasuke, Sakura and Karin quickly ran outside, jumping back from the compound just as the monster exited as well. Sasuke motioned to Karin and Sakura, a serious look on his face.
"Alright, you two. Let's end this quick before one of us gets really hurt, or ends up dead," Sasuke said calmly. Sakura gave a nod, the seal on her forehead activating and spreading. Karin focused, the chakra chains coming from her once more. And finally, Sasuke pulled out a kunai, his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and Rinnesharingan burning with determination. "If we don't stop this thing, it might get away and hurt others...so lets finish this." With that, the three rushed the lava monster. Karin dodged a kick from the beast, sliding past it and behind it. As it tried to swing a punch at Sasuke, Karin quickly shot her chains out, wrapping them around the monster's arm, holding it in place. Sakura jumped far back, landing on the palm of a small Susanoo hand. With all its power, the Susanoo launched Sakura at the monster, Sakura focusing all of her power into her punch. When it hit, the monster stood still at first as if nothing happened. But then slowly it began to crumble, slowly falling to the grass as ash. Karin, Sasuke and Sakura stared for a moment, Sasuke studying the beast's ash remains with his Rinnesharingan.
Sasuke's eyes slowly widened as the beast began very slowly reforming. First the legs reformed, then the torso, one arm at a time before finally the head reformed from the ashes. Not only was the beast reformed, but it stared at Sasuke with a look so angry it sent chills down the Uchiha's spine. As he watched, the beast opened its mouth wide. Eyes widening more, Sasuke shouted, "Sakura! Karin! Move!" A moment later, the monster began to spit lava as if doing a fire style jutsu. Sasuke, not having any time to come up with a plan, did the only thing he could do. Using his Rinnesharingan, Sasuke switched places with the women, shielding himself with a dense Susanoo ribcage. Despite the protection, Sasuke was still seriously wounded, the Uchiha screaming in pain as the left side of his face, his chest and right arm were burned badly. As Sasuke fell to his knees, the Susanoo shield faded away and Sasuke could barely stay up, having trouble breathing because of the pain he felt. The lava monster looked down at the young man, simply watching him for a moment before it reached down. Gripping Sasuke by the throat, it lifted Sasuke, starting to choke him without any hesitation. Sasuke struggled weakly, being burned more, his vision slowly going blurry as he started to run out of oxygen.
Before he passed out, however, a large white snake wrapped tightly around the monster's arm, tightening until it crushed it, the arm becoming ash. Sasuke fell, coughing and wheezing for air as he held his throat. Looking up, Sasuke saw Orochimaru standing at the hole in the wall Sakura had made, the Sannin smirking a little as he looked at Sasuke.
"It would seem you needed my help, Sasuke," Orochimaru greeted before he quickly slithered over in a snake form. When he got to the group, he stood back up as a human and crossed his arms. "And it seems you met my little project. Strange, though. Until now, it had been in a sort of sleep-like state. Then you arrive and suddenly it's causing all kinds of problems." Sakura and Karin rushed to Sasuke's side, Sakura beginning to heal his chest and arm. Karin held out her arm, pulling her sleeve up.
"Sasuke, bite. You need to heal if we're going to send this thing away!" Karin ordered. The Uchiha stared weakly but finally bit the Uzumaki's arm. Like so many times in the past when they had been on a team, Karin's healing chakra began to work on healing the Uchiha right away. As Karin and Sakura worked on quickly healing Sasuke, Orochimaru kept the lava monster away from them, using his snakes to fight the beast. Finally, when Sasuke was healed enough to stand again, Orochimaru hopped back to the group.
"I'll...I'll send him away now. I'll need a minute though, so keep him busy until I get the portal open," Sasuke ordered weakly, his Rinnesharingan glowing dark as he put his hands together. When the portal finally opened, Sakura, Karin and Orochimaru hopped back behind Sasuke. The portal opened up next to the lava monster. Shaking his head, Sasuke took a deep breath before he rushed one last time at the monster. He dodged several quick attacks, having to jump high to avoid the lava attacks. Finally, Sasuke flickered and appeared behind the monster. Summoning one last Susanoo shield, Sasuke rushed at the beast, slamming right into it. Susanoo arms formed and slowly Sasuke began to push the beast until finally Sasuke managed to grab the beast tightly. "Be gone!" he yelled, throwing the lava monster into the portal. Before it could rush back out, Sasuke closed the portal before falling to his knees, coughing up a large amount of blood. When he looked up at the others, his Rinnesharingan eye was bleeding badly. "It's...over..." he promised. Sasuke then fell forward, passing out, the Uchiha seemingly not breathing.
When he opened his eyes, Sasuke was surrounded by darkness. In front of him, a man as tall as himself stood. He had long, wild hair, a dark red-brown color, the Sharingan in his eyes. Sasuke knew right away who the man was, thanks to his time with the Sage of Six Paths during the war. The man appeared to be around 30 years old and wore a white robe with the markings of the sage around the collar area. His eyes were almost cold, a very serious look to them. Even with how strong Sasuke currently was, the feeling of this man's chakra made him feel like a low ranking Genin. Yes, Sasuke knew this man very well.
Indra Otsutsuki.
"What...?" Sasuke began.
"Hm. It seems that mindless beast is still around...And you had to fight it," Indra replied, the older man crossing his arms as he studied Sasuke.
"How are...? You are...?"
"Indra Otsutsuki. Father of the Uchiha, creator of Ninjutsu," the Otsutsuki replied in a serious tone, almost glaring at Sasuke. "Your original. But you already knew that, hm?"
"My...Original?" Sasuke asked slowly, seeming confused.
"Don't waste my time, boy. We both know you know about being my reincarnation. My latest, and my last reincarnation."
"I know who you are. You're the Sage's son. He did tell me I was your reincarnation...So why am I suddenly seeing you?"
Indra was quiet for several seconds, the man staring at Sasuke with an almost amused smirk.
"Simple. The seal is breaking, of course," Indra finally replied, his deep voice sounding amused.
"Seal? What are you talking about? I don't have any seals on me," Sasuke shot back, glaring at the Otsutsuki, an annoyed tone to his voice.
"Watch your tone, boy, and listen. Long ago, before I died, I used a reincarnation jutsu. But there was a catch. I would reincarnate over and over for 1,000 years." Indra lowered his arms, shaking his head. "And one of the things that...woke me up, I suppose you could say, was that monster you fought. I, too, fought it long ago." Sasuke listened silently, frowning a little before sighing, shaking his head.
"Why?" was all he could ask.
"Why what, boy?"
"You said you used a jutsu to reincarnate yourself. Why? Were you afraid to die?" Sasuke smirked, crossing his arms. Indra stared silently as his spiral Mangekyou formed in his eyes.
"Hm...not even close. I cursed myself to save the one I love."
Indra's response shocked Sasuke, the young Uchiha's smirk quickly going away. He watched the older man, unsure of how to respond, frowning as he thought it over.
"You saved the one you love...? What do you mean?" Sasuke finally asked in a small, quiet voice. Indra smirked, shaking his head.
"I suppose love is a new feeling to you, hm? Very well, I'll explain. If somebody hurt..." Indra paused as if trying to figure something out. "...Sakura. If they hurt her, and she was on death's door, would you simply let her die?" Indra questioned. Without hesitation, Sasuke shook his head.
"I wouldn't let Sakura just die, no. But what does that have to do with 'cursing' yourself, as you put it?"
"Hm...there was a battle. My wife was wounded badly while protecting me. She was dying, and there wasn't much I could do. I had been working on a jutsu that would...hm...allow one to live forever. But, it wasn't finished. And so, I used what I had. Before it was too late, I used a modified version of this jutsu, making it my love wouldn't fade...So I cursed us to be reborn countless times, never able to truly see each other again...or so I thought." Sasuke raised a brow, looking curious now.
"What changed?"
The Otsutsuki man smirked softly. "Two things changed. One, it would appear the jutsu has finally gotten too weak to work for another life. And two...you and Sakura are, for the first time, actually close. Your chakras...It would appear they have allowed me to finally wake up. Me...and my wife."
"Your wife...?"
Indra simply nodded.
"Hm...I was reincarnated in you, Uchiha Sasuke. Would it not make sense for my love to be reincarnated as someone close to you?" Indra crossed his arms once more, the Otsutsuki man smirking as Sasuke's eyes slowly widened.
"Wait...you mean...?" Sasuke trailed off, simply staring at Indra.
"Yes, Sasuke. If I was reborn as you, then my love...is within Sakura Haruno."
Sasuke wasn't sure what to say, feeling a little dizzy as he thought over everything he had learned. Looking up at Indra once more, Sasuke frowned, seeming unsure.
"You said the seals are weak now? What'll happen when they break finally?"
There was a long pause, the two men staring at each other, the Uchiha looking tired while the Otsutsuki looked serious once more.
"When the seals are finally broken, my wife and I will finally truly revive, as our own selves. Not into another person, but revived with our original bodies." Indra paused, shaking his head. "But I'm still not strong enough to come back just yet. There's still one more...task, that needs to be done before the seal breaks."
"And that task would be...?"
Indra only smirked, shaking his head.
"You will find out soon enough, Uchiha Sasuke. You'll know when the seal is broken." With that, Indra Otsutsuki began to fade, still too weak to show himself to Sasuke for long. "We'll meet again, Uchiha."
When Sasuke's eyes opened, he sat up in a bed, the room he was in dark with only a few torches for light. He gasped for breath, feeling dizzy. He looked around, noticing that his chest had bandages wrapped around it, though otherwise his wounds seemed to be mostly healed. His shirt was gone, though the rest of his clothes remained, the material of his clothes damaged from the battle with the lava monster. Looking around the room again, Sasuke slowly caught his breath, a frown coming to his face. As he looked around, Sasuke realized that the room he was currently in was his old room from when he was Orochimaru's student. Sasuke coughed harshly as he tried getting out of bed, though the Uchiha ended up falling, feeling too weak to stand yet. Where were the others? Sasuke wondered. As he sat up, leaning against his bed, Sasuke remembered meeting Indra. He frowned, holding his head in pain. "Indra...Shachi...Me and Sakura..." Sasuke sighed, lowering his hand, doing his best to ignore the ache in his head. He figured it was from meeting with Indra, and just hoped the headache would pass quickly.
Sasuke looked up as the door to his room slowly opened, tensing a little until he saw it was just Sakura. Sakura stared, as if surprised to see him up, but quickly went over, helping him off the floor and onto the bed.
"Sasuke! You're awake!" she cried out happily as she pulled him into a hug. When she felt Sasuke tense, she quickly let go, realizing she had hugged him too tight. "S-sorry. I-...We were so worried though!" Sasuke gave a tired smile.
"It's fine...But, how long was I asleep for?"
Sakura hesitated, looking away nervously.
"Well...this is day four, Sasuke. Your heart stopped a few times, but we managed to fix you up and now you should be fine. Sore, tired...but fine." Sasuke raised a brow, looking curious. His heart had stopped? Sasuke wondered if that was how he had met a long-dead man. Of course, from what he knew about the Otsutsuki, he didn't doubt it was, mostly, easy for Indra to show himself. After all, his father appeared to Sasuke during the war, and he had been dead longer than Indra. Hell, Indra's father was still around as a ghost, at least during the war.
"Uh...Sasuke? You okay...? You got a weird look on your face..." Sasuke mumbled. Sasuke blinked, shaking the thoughts away before looking at Sakura with a frown. Should he tell her about what happened? Or would that simply worry her? Sasuke thought it over for several seconds before he gave the pink haired woman a gentle smile.
"I...I'm fine, Sakura. It's just...Something weird happened while I was out." At Sakura's curious look, Sasuke began to explain everything he had learned, explaining everything he knew about Indra, telling Sakura everything even about them being reincarnations. When Sasuke finished, he looked at Sakura, rubbing his sore chest as he studied her, his Sharingan spinning slowly. "And then he just faded, saying we would meet again. So...I guess...Indra Otsutsuki is...sort of alive again?" Sakura was frowning by the time Sasuke finished telling her what he saw, feeling a little weirded out and also a little confused. She knew Sasuke was the reincarnation of Indra, but...she was a reincarnation as well? The Haruno woman shook her head and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, looking into his Sharingan eye.
"So...I guess that explains the weird things that have happened since you came home, huh? It's...I guess them trying to wake up?" Sakura ran a hand through her hair, letting out a long groan. "This is..." Sakura trailed off, not sure how to describe how she felt. Sasuke simply gave a nod.
"Weird...confusing...annoying..." Sasuke listed before shrugging. "He said one more thing was needed before he woke up, but he didn't explain how she would wake...I guess we'll figure it out soon, like it or not." Sasuke quickly changed the subject, asking, "Where is Orochimaru? I wanted to ask him about that Mar guy." There was a knock at the door before Karin entered, pausing as she looked at the two. Sasuke looked over, staring with a blank look before he offered a tiny smile. "Karin. Maybe you can help. Where is he? Where is Orochimaru? He's got some things to explain to me." Karin hesitated, smiling nervously at the Uchiha.
"He uh...he left, Sasuke. While you were asleep, he decided to leave to go to one of the other bases. He wanted to check up on the experiments there, and...well...I did hear him mention he'd be bringing that Mar guy, though. So...I guess if you track him down, you might be able to get answers."
Sasuke glanced at Sakura before he stood slowly, ignoring the pain that shot through his aching body. "I've got other things I have to deal with...I suppose hunting Orochimaru down will have to wait for now." Sasuke looked at Sakura, the woman gently holding onto his arm in case he needed help standing. Sasuke stared into her eyes, Sakura staring back, the Uchiha looking curious. "Besides...We did originally come here for a reason, right?" With that, Sasuke turned to Karin. "Karin, do you forgive me?"
Karin stared blankly at the Uchiha before she began to laugh, shaking her head. Sasuke frowned at her reaction, thinking she was refusing, but Karin smiled and shook her head more as she laughed.
"Sasuke, when we were fighting that monster, you didn't hesitate to save my life. The Sasuke I knew from before the war would have let me get killed, but you...you didn't even hesitate. Hell...you got burned by lava protecting the two of us! The old Sasuke wouldn't have jumped in the way like that." Karin gave him a warm smile, giving a small nod. "So...Yeah, I forgive you, Sasuke. Thank you...It does mean a lot that you felt the need to say sorry." Sasuke visibly relaxed at the Uzumaki woman's words, letting out a relieved sigh before he smiled softly, sitting back on his bed.
"Thank you, Karin...When I get better, we'll be heading out. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to send for me. I...well, I owe you more than I can ever repay. You've saved me life before, after all." Karin gave another nod and chuckled as she opened the bedroom door, stepping into the hall before turning her head to look back at the two.
"Alright, Sasuke. Anyways, while you guys are here, feel free to explore the compound," Karin replied before she walked away, heading down the dark hallway.
It was only a full 24 hours later that Sasuke was feeling better, the Uchiha ready to continue their journey. As he and Sakura walked away from the base, waving goodbye to Karin, Sakura asked Sasuke, "Hey...how is it you're already feeling better? I mean, your heart stopped a few times, you were that messed up from the fight." The Uchiha hummed in thought before raising his zetsu arm in response.
"Well, Senju DNA is known to make people stronger and heal faster right? I mean, Obito during the war survived having the 10 Tails ripped out of him and was still able to help with Kaguya, even if only a little. But...Also, I think it might be because of my new connection to Indra. I don't know...It's hard to explain, but I honestly just feel...better. My pain is gone, and the wounds healed up as well, leaving just a few scars. Of course, part of that was because you and Karin were healing me as well, but still." As the two walked, Sasuke looked at his fake arm and shrugged. "Ah...anyways, our trip continues, right? Unless you want to back out. It's still not too late, you know. Being nearly killed so early on in a trip seems like a good reason to quit."
Sakura gave him a playful glare, shaking her head.
"No way, Uchiha. I told you, I'm not going to just leave you alone. Besides, what if you get hurt again? I'm not going to let you go alone and get yourself killed."
Sasuke was actually very happy at her response, having secretly hoped she wouldn't want to leave him. Smiling, Sasuke lowered his zetsu arm and looked ahead.
"Very well, Sakura. Since you're sure about coming with me, then let's continue our trip. Our next stop...hm..." Sasuke stopped walking, glancing at Sakura with a small smile. "My katana broke during that fight. I need to get a new one at some point, so why don't we head to Sand next? Besides, I heard they were having trouble lately. Might be a good chance to improve people's opinion of me if I go to help out." Sasuke paused before adding, "Plus, I think I pissed off the Sand Village the least out of everyone." Sakura giggled softly and gave a nod of agreement.
With Sasuke healed and feeling much better, the two made it halfway to the Sand village by nightfall. The two decided to stop and set up camp, Sasuke using a small fire jutsu to get their fire started. The two sat quietly by the fire, their focus drawn to the crackling flames.
"You've gotten quicker since the war ended," Sasuke finally said to break the silence, the Uchiha glancing over at the pink haired woman. Sakura looked back and offered a smile, nodding a little.
"With you gone, Naruto had nobody to spar with. So, I've been sparring with Naruto lately. Don't want to get rusty, after all, or fall behind again." Sasuke hummed softly and gave a nod. He hesitated before standing up, holding his hand out with a smile. Sakura took his hand and stood as well, looking curious. "What is it, Sasuke?" she asked softly.
"Do you want to train with me? It's not too late, and after being in bed the last few days I feel a little restless," Sasuke explained, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Sakura thought it over, humming softly. She wasn't tired either, and so Sakura gave a nod.
"Sure, Sasuke, that sounds good. What kind of training are we going to do?" Sakura looked at the Uchiha as he pulled out a scroll, the Uchiha chuckling softly as he handed it over. Sakura instantly recognized the scroll as the one the Uchiha had given her. "...You want me to practice your clan's signature jutsu right now?" Sakura finally asked, Sasuke giving an amused smile as Sakura took the scroll. "Hey, why did you even have this? You gave it to me." Sasuke shrugged, looking amused.
"You had it, relax. I just took it right now," the Uchiha promised. Sakura looked at the scroll and slowly opened it, taking a deep breath.
"Okay, I'll start practicing this jutsu tonight. What will you be doing?" Sakura questioned, sitting down with the scroll unrolled so she could began studying it. Sasuke watched Sakura quietly, the woman's focus on the scroll. He couldn't help but smile again. "Sasuke?" Sakura asked, looking up to see him smiling. "What?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I just really am happy you're here with me, Sakura. That's all," the Uchiha replied softly, reaching down to tap her forehead with a warm smile. Sakura blushed and quickly looked back down at the scroll, mumbling under her breath. Sasuke chuckled and sat down next to her, tapping under his Rinnesharingan.
"To answer your question, though, I'm going to try getting better with this eye. I'm already skilled with it, but it never hurts to keep getting better." Sakura gave a nod and returned her focus on her scroll, reading in silence. As Sasuke got up to begin his training, Sakura gently tapped his hand. Sasuke looked down to see Sakura looking up at him with a smile.
"If you need healing or anything, just let me know, Sasuke," the medic told him. Sasuke gave a nod and walked off, not going too far away from their camp site. Closing his right eye, Sasuke looked around with his Rinnesharingan. Sasuke put his hands together and focused for several seconds. "Limbo: Border Jail," Sasuke murmured softly. Slowly, one by one, clones of Sasuke appeared. Unlike Madara's four clones, Sasuke was able to summon six. Sasuke closed his Rinnesharingan eye and opened his Sharingan eye, smirking a little when he was no longer able to see the clones. "Okay, so that works. Good." Sasuke shut his eye once more and opened his Rinnesharingan again to continue his training, the clones becoming visible once more with the help of his Rinnesharingan. Sasuke had the clones simply walk around, Sasuke watching in silence as he lowered his hands. Sasuke was able to hold the jutsu for five minutes before the clones returned to Sasuke, the Uchiha panting softly from the effort of making the jutsu last so long. He waited, and smiled a bit to himself when only 45 seconds after returning the clones he was able to summon them again. "Okay, good. I'm getting better at this." Sasuke made the clones go away for good, wanting to move on with his training.
Sasuke made a normal clone and had it walk ahead of him, the clone soon turning to face him. "Alright, now I'll practice absorbing chakra and attacks," Sasuke said to himself. With a nod to the clone, the clone quickly did handsigns before launching a massive fireball at the real Sasuke. Sasuke held his hand out, his Rinnesharingan glowing. As the fireball got close enough, it slowed as Sasuke drained it. Once the attack was drained, Sasuke let out a soft grunt and held his eye in pain. He quickly shook the pain off however and made the clone pop. Sasuke did his own handsigns but suddenly froze when he heard a voice.
"Hm, and what exactly are you doing?" the voice asked. Sasuke clenched his teeth.
It was Indra once more, speaking in his mind.
"Shut up, damn it. I'm not going to look like a crazy person by talking to myself," Sasuke snapped back. The Uchiha heard a chuckle in response.
"You aren't talking to yourself. Not technically."
"Shut...up. I need to get back to training."
"Hm. You want to get strong enough to always protect Sakura Haruno, don't you?" Indra questioned after a long pause, his tone making him sound almost proud of the last Uchiha. Sasuke refused to answer at first, but finally sighed, seeing no point in trying to ignore the Otsutsuki.
"I've become rusty. Ever since the war, I haven't exactly been in too many tough fights that require my Rinnesharingan. So, yes. I want to get better with it. After that monster attacked us...Well, I never want to risk Sakura getting killed. So I have to master this eye." Indra listened in silence, and didn't respond for so long that Sasuke thought the man had decided to leave him alone. Sasuke let out a soft sigh, putting his hands together once again to return to his training when Indra finally spoke once more.
"I see. Very well, Uchiha Sasuke. I'm still too weak to truly help you, but there is one thing I can gift you if you wish to grow stronger. I can give you the power, but you'd have to train it until you're stronger with it," Indra finally said. Sasuke became curious at his words, though was also a little unsure.
"And why would you bother helping me...?" Sasuke asked, whispering now so Sakura wouldn't hear him talking. He could hear the Otsutsuki man sigh softly.
"You are my heir, Uchiha Sasuke. You are the last Uchiha, a clan I helped start. You are my heir, so of course I care, little Uchiha." There was a small pause before Indra added, "So do you want what little help I can currently offer?"
Sasuke thought over Indra's offer, though still felt a little unsure. After spending most of his life trying to do things without help, Sasuke felt odd at the thought of taking help finally. Of course, it wasn't too odd for him. He had had help over the years, of course, despite his stubborn nature. Sakura protecting him in the Forest of Death when he was knocked out after getting the Curse Seal. Karin healing him multiple times during his time as leader of Taka. Even now, Sakura was with him on his trip. Letting out a soft sigh, Sasuke finally gave a nod.
"Fine, I'll take your help," Sasuke finally replied. He instantly regretted his choice. He felt a growing pain in his Zetsu arm, the Uchiha clenching his teeth as he clutched at the bandaged arm. As the feeling grew, Sasuke let out a pained gasp, gripping tightly. "What...What the hell's happening?" Sasuke asked Indra.
"I won't let an heir of mine rely on cheap methods of gaining power. You've done it all your life, haven't you? The Curse Seal. Taking your brother's eyes. My father giving you that Rinnesharingan. So here's the deal: I will give you a gift, but you will no longer rely on that fake arm of yours." After Indra replied, Sasuke let out a scream of pain as spikes of wood burst from his Zetsu arm, the wood slowly moving up the limb, wrapping tightly around it. "Hurry, little Uchiha, or the arm will destroy you." Before the vines could get to Sasuke's actually flesh, the Uchiha did the only thing he could. Using a Susanoo arm, Sasuke ripped the Zetsu arm off and threw it to the side. As the arm hit the ground, a small patch of flowers grew from the wood spikes sticking out of the too-pale flesh. Sakura had heard the screams of pain and came running. When she arrived, she saw Sasuke falling back, his arm bleeding badly after the Uchiha was forced to rip it off. As he fell, however, Sakura gasped in shock as small vines came from the ground to gently catch the Uchiha, the vines lowering softly to the ground.
The last thing Sasuke heard as he passed out was the fading voice of Indra Otsutsuki.
"Enjoy the only gift I can give you, little Uchiha. Enjoy the gift of...Wood Style."