Chapter Ten
The moment his clone dissapears, Naruto's eyes widen. So that's what took so long...I knew something was bothering Sasuke... The blonde sighs deeply and turns to Sakura. She's staring at him with a confused look on her face.
"Is something wrong?" She wonders.
"My clone found Sasuke." He tells her. "No need to worry. He's just off brooding in the woods..."
Sakura makes a face like she doesn't know what to think. "He'll come back though, right?"
Naruto nods.
"Then I guess...it's okay..." She lowers her gaze to the ground, seeming worried. Of course, who could blame her? She's probably just worried about losing Sasuke again. Or him getting attacked by bandits while he's out there alone.
Psh, as if a bunch of bandits could hurt Sasuke... Naruto's expression turns sour. If the other day was any kind of indication, Sasuke'd probably just slaughter them before they even got the chance...
It's at that moment that the two teamates hear what sounds like shoes crunching down over grass. They whirl around to find Sasuke stalking out of the trees, his face downcast. There's an odd glint in his eye, like's he's just come to some kind of conclusion. The Uchiha walks right up to them but doesn't say a word.
"S-Sasuke...?" Sakura mumbles, quietly.
He doesn't respond.
What's the matter with him all of sudden? Naruto grinds his teeth together, feeling frustrated by his friend's mood swings. One minute, it's like Sasuke never left. And the next, it's like he's plotting Naruto's murder! "Hey!" Naruto growls, taking a step closer. "Where have you been?" He demands, even though he knows the answer.
Sasuke cuts him a dark look out of the corner of his eye. "Shut up, idiot."
"What'd you say to me?!"
Sakura reaches out and grabs Naruto's arm before he can go any closer to Sasuke. The look in her tells him to just let it go. Something isn't right here...I suddenly have a really bad feeling... She decides and releases his arm. It's like this isn't the same Sasuke as yesterday. What happened?
Naruto frowns, angrily but decides to listen to Sakura. He doesn't go any closer to Sasuke and, instead, moves to the other side of their watch post. Plopping onto the ground, he tries to distract himself by watching the workers who are getting very close to finishing the bridge.
Sasuke's sandles crunch over dead leaves and overgrowth as he trudges through the woods. After Naruto's clone had spoken with him, he had wanted to return immediately. But, of course, he hadn't wanted to seem too eager. That would only prove Naruto is right about him.
And during his time in the woods, Sasuke decided something. I can't believe I'm about to admit this...but...I don't think I'll be able to do it. I wasn't able to kil him before and I don't think I'll be able to do it now... He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. That just means Madara will probably send someone else to do it... Which means... I'll have to warn Naruto eventually.
With a small, defeated smirk, Sasuke also decides Naruto will probably be peeved that Sasuke only returned in order to betray him once again. The idiot will just have to get over it. He tells himself. I don't-
"SASUKE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" It's Sakura's voice that disrupts his train of thought. Turning around, he finds nobody near him. Her voice had sounded far off, anyway...but what did she mean? He's not even near her... Unless...
Sasuke swears loudly and takes of sprinting in the direction of their camp. Something happened!
Sasuke's attack had been so fast and precise. It nearly caught Naruto off guard. Luckily, the Jinchuuriki just barely managed to block his teammate's katana before it sunk into his chest. After clashing for a few more seconds, they break apart. Naruto flips backward, landing lightly on the balls of his feet.
"Sasuke!" He barks, furiously. "What are you doing?!"
Sasuke doesn't answer him. He simply continues staring at Naruto with blank, coal-colored eyes.
"Naruto!" The other voice comes from behind him.
Disoriented by the fact that Sasuke's voice is coming from behind him now, Naruto spins around to face him. "S-Sasuke?" Naruto stares as his friend comes running out of the woods, his weapon already drawn.
"Behind you, idiot!" He snaps.
Naruto spins again, countering the other Sasuke's sword just in time. "I don't get it! What the heck is going on here?!" He shouts.
The new Sasuke slows his steps and stops a few feet behind Naruto. "That's a fake. Sent by Madara to capture you."
"What? By Madara? But how do you-"
"I'll explain later. Just finish him off, already."
"Uh, right!" Naruto breaks his connection with the fake Sasuke and jumps away, weaving his favorite sign in midair. "Shadow clone jutsu!" There's a puff of smoke and another Naruto appears out of thin air. They land, heavily and the original holds out his hand to the clone, who starts molding his chakra into the original's palm.
The fake Sasuke tilts his head, curiously.
He doesn't behave normally. Anyone in their right mind would try to attack Naruto while he's busy forming his jutsu...but this guy doesn't seem care if he gets hit. Only then does it occur to Sasuke. "Ah! Wait, Naruto! Don't get near it-" But it's too late.
Naruto charges over the clearing, slamming the swirling ball of energy into the imposter's gut. "RASENGAN!"
"Tsk!" Sasuke grits his teeth together and starts running toward Naruto. Moron! Didn't he hear what I said?!
A confident smile crawls over Naruto's face as the fake Sasuke collapses, blood gushing from a massive wound on his abdomen. He shivers at how real the imposter looks...
"Naruto! Get away from it!" Sasuke barks again as he hurries toward his teammate.
"Huh? What do you-" But just then, Naruto gasps in shock as something wraps around his ankle. Whipping his gaze back down, he finds the fake Sasuke's hand-or some unnatural tenticle, where his hand used to be-has now slithered around leg. In a fraction of a second, the tenticle expands, becoming a twisted mass of writhing, white flesh. It's so large that is almost completely obscures Naruto's entire body from Sasuke's vision.
What is that thing?! Sasuke yanks the sword around and strikes, cutting into the freakish flesh. Some kind of nasty, yellow goo oozes out but it doesn't relinquish its grip on Naruto. If anything, the huge fan-shaped apendage starts moving closer to him, threatening to crush his entire body if it gets much tighter.
Naruto swears, struggling to move as the thing gradually consumes his body. What's going on here?! What the heck is this!? He tries to weave signs-maybe summoning a clone could help get him loose-but no, he can't lift his arms. He can't move much at all. But then-
Creeak...
He freezes, his breath catching in his throat. That sound... "Ah!" He winces as his ribs creak again, on the verge of breaking under the crushing weight.
Seeing this, Sasuke smashes his katana over the creature again but only succeeds in drawing out more disgusting goo and leaving shallow cuts along its surface. Oh come on! He weaves a sign, letting his chakra flow into his hand. "Chidori!" The Uchiha coils back his arm, driving it straight through the twisted mass. That had to do something!
More vile ooze explodes from the wound, but this time its different. The creature roars in agony and shambles back, simultaneously losing its grip on Naruto, who nearly collapses right then but manages to stay on his feet.
"You okay?" Sasuke asks, his eyes never leaving that horrid monster.
"Yeah..." Naruto reaches up, touching his side and wincing. Nothing was broken, fortunately. But it still hurts like hell...
"What was that?!" Sakura asks, kneeling beside Naruto as she inspects his wound. "It all happened so fast...I barely even realized what was going on!" Emerald chakra glows around her hands as she works to heal Naruto's strained ribcage. "Sit down." She instructs him.
He readily obeys, thankful to be off his shaking legs and oddly sore ankle. The blonde looks up to find Sasuke hovering a few feet away from the monstrosity. There's still a large amount of that slime coating his arm but he seems more concerned with the creature that lays, dying at his feet.
"We should take this thing back to the village so they can figure out what it is." Sasuke says.
"You want to bring that thing back to the village?!" Naruto reinterates, sounding horrified.
"Not all of it. It'd be too heavy to life."
"What...?"
With that, Sasuke uses his sword to chop off a section of the dead flesh.
"Eck! No way are we taking that with us!" Naruto barks, his face twisted in disgust.
"No, Sasuke's right." Sakura tells him, backing away from his healed body. "The ANBU might be able to find out where it came from...and how it disguised itself as Sasuke with no one noticing."
"Well there is one thing we already know." Sasuke says.
"What's that?"
"..." He hesitates, unsure of how to put it. "It came from Madara Uchiha. It must be something he created..."
"You said that earlier." Naruto recalls. "But how can you know that?"
The raven closes his eyes. "Because...I didn't do what he asked me to do. Now he's going to do it himself."