(I don't own Naruto!)
Chapter 29 – Being Left to Choose
Sandaime's death had affected many people. Many of the villagers had lost heart while the council had been preparing to seek out a new Hokage as quickly as possible. Ninjas continued on with their daily lives as Sasuke started walking around in his hospital room. He winced at the pain his body suffered and at least he had been allowed to attend the funeral despite the damage done to his body. Kakashi had brought Sasuke to the hospital after their horrid encounter with the Sand Siblings followed up by the Akatsuki. Sasuke fumed in hatred upon remembering how easily his brother had grabbed him by his neck and slammed him against the wall. He remembered facing Gaara early on out and remembered how powerful he was. Sasuke couldn't believe it and also with Naruto, who supposedly was a failure, managed to beat the living daylights of someone so powerful. Why? No matter how much power he tapped into, Gaara had easily swat him away as if he had become some insignificant fly.
Why can't I be more powerful!?
Sasuke pondered deeply and contemplatively as he looked out the window, seeing the other people training. He hissed in annoyance and slammed his fist against the window sill, snarling darkly as his chakra began to spike. He saw Naruto practicing his Taijutsu with Taichi, watching him laugh and fool around while getting some training in. Sakura and Ino started chatting away as well as Ino started crossing notes Sakura while the other ninjas had begun to join them. Sasuke, scowling darkly, averted his eyes from the scene as he sat on his bed in pure annoyance.
How did they get so strong that fast!?
Seeing that this was going no where, Sasuke snorted in annoyance until his hand felt the cursed seal. His eyes widened as he looked in the mirror and found the cursed seal's subjugation gone from circle. He remembered the feel of the power rushing through his veins when he fought Gaara. He had easily taken down the other ninjas as well as they stood in his way. He chuckled lightly upon remembering the time he had broken the arms of the Otogakure ninja. A slow smile appeared on his lips as his eyes widened with pleasure, feeling the adrenaline and the other chakra screaming through his body. His body shuddered violently as bodily fluids started dripping down his back and the cursed seal began to glow.
Why didn't I do this before? What's holding me back?
As the cursed seal started to activate, something started yanking him back. Sasuke found himself sitting in the darkness when memories started flashing before him. His constant petty fights with Naruto, his quarrels with Gray and having Sakura agree with him all the time and everything else. The memories he had with Team Takagi, his memories with his family and many others started flashing before him until he found a bright light revealing a crimson haired Yamanaka female smiling at him gently. Sasuke's hand unconsciously began to trace his wounds as he remembered how smooth and how gentle her hands glided over his wounds. Her smile and her kind lavender eyes burned itself into his memory as tears started to fall from his eyes. His hand started to reach out for her and he began walking towards her image. Was the power worth losing all this?
"Foolish, you can barely protect those memories if you don't have the power!"
Upon hearing the voice, Sasuke immediately spun around and found a younger version of himself standing there, crying.
"Why? Why couldn't I save them? What's wrong with me?"
Startled, Sasuke shook his head with angry gaze. "I'm different now! There's nothing that's going to stop me!"
However, his younger self suddenly smiled psychotically as his eyes became more serpentine. "If you truly wish to have the power you need, come to me. Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke suddenly felt the adrenaline rush as a huge maniacal grin started curving up his lips. The former seal that Kakashi had put to curb his desires for power had broken off and his memories started to warp away as a bigger darkness began to engulf him. His eyes widened at the fresh new adrenaline absorbing him as he couldn't contain the excitement running through his veins. A chance at power and a chance to finally kill the man who had destroyed him and his family appeared right before him. It was now or never! He remembered the day Itachi had glared at him with his bright red eyes when he had cornered him and Naruto. Though it was only a few days ago, Sasuke couldn't help but be frustrated at the progress the others had made. Wiping away the images, Sasuke decided to pursue Orochimaru, but first, he had to take care of some things.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Naruto and the others were outside in the training area, simply hanging out or training. Neji had begun training Hinata with Gray, upon seeing the determination of the heiress. Despite the objections of the Hyuuga council, Hiashi dismissed them and had Gray adopted into the family despite his "weirdly" coloured hair and eyes. Upon seeing him, Hiashi's father literally blew up until Neji and Hinata stood up for their cousin and refused to let him leave and forced the clan to allow Gray to stay the night. On the other side, Lee was trying to woo Sakura but to no avail. The pink haired kunoichi would have none of it and found herself staring at now the topless coffee blonde male which Mimi had kicked for stripping off his hoodie again due to his insistence of it being "too hot". Ino on the other hand hounded Chouji for his potato chips to prevent him from eating while Shikamaru continued to watch the clouds drift by. Kiba was playing with Akamaru and Ten-Ten and Manyama were switching notes on how to shoot kunai and shurikens more accurately and creating Jutsu with weaponry. However, nobody noticed that Naruto and Taichi had begun working on a technique due to Jiraiya teaching Naruto something that he was forced to learn in a week. However, Mimi sensed that there was something foul in the air as the leaf in her hand suddenly burned. Blinking several times, the female Uchiha kunoichi glanced around to see nothing.
"Tch, what the hell's going on? I feel like some thing's gonna crop out straight out someone's ass," Mimi scowled as she began looking around. "By the way, where's cockatoo head? He's supposed to be here with us."
Then, she saw someone get out of one of the hospital windows. Her eyes widened before narrowing dangerously into slits with her Mangenkyou Sharingan activating. Sasuke leapt out of the window and started to move away. What did he want to do now?
"You know, for someone who's supposedly the champion – he's pretty stupid," Mimi cracked her neck and knuckles, loosening herself up. "Looks like the major ass wipe decided to make his move."
"I guess you picked it up too?"
Mimi swivelled around and found Gray standing next o her with his Byakuggan activated, folding his arms with his eyes following Sasuke's movement.
"Do you think we should grab him and tie him to a post so he won't get out," Mimi grinned sardonically, blowing her nails. "I know where to buy industrial grade rope for a pretty good price and making chloroform isn't hard."
Gray chuckled lightly and ruffled his younger step sister's hair, shaking his head. "I don't think tying him to a post will help but I'm sure chasing will. We better move before anyone notices."
Gray vanished while Mimi let out a disgruntled snort, rolling her eyes sarcastically. "I can't believe I'm doing this - chasing after Mr. High and Mighty Uchiha Sasuke!"
As the two vanished, nobody had noticed that two ninjas from Team Takagi had vanished.
Sasuke finally managed to lose track of the medical ninjas who had been chasing him around. He found himself surrounded by laundry and wet shirts as the wind caused them to billow near his face. The fresh air gently brushed his cheeks as a small smirk appeared on his lips. He heard two whoosh sounds while continuing to remain unfazed and watching the clouds drift by.
Sasuke chuckled in amusement, smirking darkly. "I didn't know you'd see me from that far a distance."
Mimi and Gray stood behind him with a narrow glare as he turned around to see his cousin and rival standing before him. "Oh yeah, I forgot the reject's half-Hyuuga."
Gray chuckled devilishly as his hand started slowly made its way to his water jug, twitching slightly. "You better watch what you're saying. This reject may be the one to kick your ass."
Sasuke continued to smirk evilly while Mimi cracked her knuckles with a sardonic grin, flipping her hair back. "When you left the building, the stench of your stupidity infused in the air and gave me a signal, moron. Your chakra's different – it's like you decided to douse yourself in meth juice and pot crap!"
The male Uchiha rolled his eyes at his cousin's bravado, sneering at them mockingly. "Do you actually think both of you can beat me?"
Gray chuckled darkly as his hand started pulling out the water from the jug. "Cocky aren't we? Heh, you don't know true terror yet."
Mimi however placed her arm in front of him, shaking her head. "No, he's my ass-wipe cousin. I gotta be the one to shut this douche bag up. Sorry Gray – it's my fight."
Mimi ran towards him with her Sharingan activated, swinging her leg for a kick. Sasuke ducked before preparing to uppercut her and forced Mimi to tumble away but not before sweeping him off his feet. As the male Uchiha crashed on the ground, he grit his teeth in annoyance as Mimi sprung away from the wall for more speed with her kick aiming straight in his face and bending him back over. Sasuke seethed in rage; how did his female cousin learn how to fight with that kind of speed and power? He clenched his hands into a fist as he lunged at her with locking in his right fist into her jaw. As the Uchiha kunoichi flipped away, Sasuke charged after her with a barrage of more punches until black flames started crashing towards him.
"Amaterasu: Hyakkokuchou Yakou!" (Shining Heaven: Night Parade of a Hundred Black Swans)
Sasuke's eyes widened as he remembered his brother using Amaterasu but he never knew the concept of combining it with two different attacks. The black flames rushed forward towards him and morphed into darting swans, crashing against his body. As he flew back, Sasuke let out a grunt before pushing himself to fight back. Mimi easily dodged and swung over as her legs kicked him right under his jaw and sent him staggering backwards. As he fell to the ground, Sasuke slammed his fist against the concrete in a fit of rage.
Damn it, even she's over powering me! I need more power!
With the cursed seal roaring with power, Sasuke felt his Sharingan become more powerful than ever as he launched himself at Mimi with monstrous speed. Mimi easily bent back as she watched in admonishment Sasuke bounce off from the walls. Twisting her body in mid-air, she dodged Sasuke's other lunging attempt before easily landing on the ground and unleashing a huge fireball. Sasuke immediately leapt away and reappeared right in front of her with his Sharingan making direct contact. Shutting her eyes, Mimi cart-wheeled away and used a sliding kick to knock him over. The two Sharingan wielders continued trading blows as Mimi and Sasuke released a fireball at the same time. As the explosions from their attacks became louder, Gray continued to keep watch in case other ninjas started to interfere. However, it became harder when Sasuke and Mimi started changing venues with Gray forcing himself to jump after her. Despite the injuries, Sasuke fared pretty well with a kick knocking down Mimi in her gut and sent her keeling over. As she doubled over, Sasuke jumped back and started gathering enough chakra that seemed to be twittering and chirping. Her eyes widened as Sasuke rushed towards her with full killing intent as she froze on the spot. Where did he get that kind of technique? She shut her eyes tightly and waited for the impact.
But none came.
As she slowly opened her eyes, Gray had spun around and with lucky timing – knocked down Sasuke. As Sasuke flew back, Gray ripped off the bandages that prevented his arm from bleeding as blood began to freeze. Sasuke's eyes widened as spears started to form from the water and blood mixture with Gray taking a new position.
"Iga Wa Ryou no Hyouketsu: Soukyoka," Gray swung his arm and unleashed a full volley of spears, impaling the wall while some pinned Sasuke's shirt.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, smirking devilishly. "I'm impressed. You managed to find a compromise for your ice techniques. Instead of water, you used your own blood."
Gray relaxed his stance a little as he refused to tear his eyes away from his opponent. "Hn, a trickster should never run out of tricks."
Sasuke blinked several times as the other spears that had shattered against the wall suddenly floated up. Sasuke's eyes widened as they changed into bloody red needles. His eyes widened upon remembering the time he fought Haku as Gray had a triumphant trickster smirk on his face.
Gray snapped his fingers, causing the needles to point at him. "Hijutsu: Sensatsu Akasuisho!" (Secret Art: Thousand Killing Red Crystals)
His eyes widened with fear as he saw the needles crashing towards him. No, he was not going to let himself get defeated by some idiot who just showed up on a doorstep one day! His Sharingan swirled faster than ever as chakra suddenly exploded from his body, shattering the crystals. The female Uchiha gawked in admonishment – Gray's technique had already been reinforced with chakra and his blood but how did he manage to shatter them all as if they were nothing? Mimi then noticed the black marks appearing on his skin as Gray stared in shock before shielding Mimi from the flying shattered shards. Shards of ice rained down like a storm of needles and Sasuke managed to dodge most of it though some got snagged on to his shirt and shorts. Seeing that they were distracted, Sasuke took the opportunity to escape. Mimi and Gray were not his main targets.
"Shit, he escaped," Mimi kicked one of the shards on the ground with a snort. "What now?"
"I don't quite know but," Gray shuddered upon remembering the chakra that knocked him down. "That chakra is never good news."
Sasuke hid in the alleys and saw Naruto at the training area. Knowing a fox's trait, the animal was a very curious creature. Chuckling lightly, Sasuke shook his head at his teammate. This was just too easy! He knew Naruto had some horrible sense of curiosity which always got him into trouble. With his Sharingan activated, the male Uchiha slowly crept closer and unveiled his eyes from behind the bushes. He smirked before laying down the note on the ground and vanishing. Naruto on the other hand rushed to the bushes and drove it aside only to find a note on the ground.
Meet me at the highest building. We have a score to settle.
-Uchiha Sasuke
Naruto looked at the note queerly but grinned in delight. He never turned down a fight and especially if it's under Sasuke's request! He's been waiting for the day to kick Sasuke's ass. Ever since the academy days, Sasuke had always looked down on him and mocked him for trying to become great. With a huge grin on his face, Naruto quickly left and headed towards the building where Sasuke was waiting. Naruto however had one question bugging him – what exactly pushed Sasuke to fight him now? They've never really fought each other in an all-out battle but their usual boyish brawls. The hyperactive blonde ninja pondered deeply but came up with nothing.
Finally, Naruto and Sasuke came face to face and the Uchiha's Sharingan was activated. Naruto just stared at him and sweat slowly trickled down their face as his heart began to pound hard against his chest. He noticed that there was something a little off with Sasuke as he looked straight into the Uchiha's eyes. Sasuke maintained a stolid expression as his hands curled up into fists and his normal aloof expression suddenly revealed a maniacal smirk.
Naruto bit his lower lip anxiously. "So, this is it."
Sasuke smirked, chuckling humourlessly. "Yeah, it sure is."
The wind howled ominously at the leaves started to flutter around with the hanging laundry billowing in the wind. Naruto clenched his fist tightly as he adjusted his forehead guard, looking at Sasuke.
Naruto narrowed his eyes darkly, preparing to fight. "Why don't you wear your forehead guard? It shows we're fighting as ninjas."
Sasuke smirked and pointed to his forehead with an arrogant snort. "I don't need that crap. I bet you won't even strike my forehead."
Enraged and without any hesitation, Naruto charged towards him activated the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone technique). Upon seeing the multiple clones rushing towards him, Sasuke instead saw multiple chakra balls rushing towards him. As his Sharingan intensified, Sasuke easily took them down one by one with punches and kicks. Despite it, Sasuke had his jaw punched by Naruto as he kicked him away to put more distance before throwing another group of shuriken at him. As Naruto skidded to dodge the flying Shuriken, the blonde ninja once again rushed him down with a couple of punches and kicks.
This has to end! Now!
Naruto bit his lower lip upon remembering the first time he had used the Rasengan against someone. He had never expected himself to use it against his own friend but the hyperactive blonde knew he had no other choice. Sasuke had already started unleashing fireballs straight into his face and all he could do was run around and swarm him with more clones. His eyes widened more when he found Sasuke charging up with electricity. Biting his lower lip, Naruto immediately summoned a clone and began gathering chakra in his palm.
"Sasuke-kun, Naruto," Sakura slammed the door open all of a sudden and noticed the two getting ready to kill each other; her eyes widened as she leapt in to stop them. "Stop it!"
Both boys had forgotten that one of their teammates was going to run in between them. By the time they noticed, Kakashi had suddenly appeared and shoved both Naruto and Sasuke apart before their blows made contact.
"Shit," Sasuke rolled away as Naruto slammed back first against the wall.
Sasuke saw Kakashi now standing in front of him, glaring darkly at his pupil. But his eyes held no hatred. He noticed the disappointment in Kakashi's eyes and faced away but not before standing up and glaring holes at him. He bit his lower lip as he remembered seeing that huge blast that Naruto had managed to conjure out of nowhere. Nobody had told him Naruto had that kind of power! He scowled darkly, facing away before vanishing.
"Sasuke-kun, wait!"
As Sasuke's figure vanished, Sakura jumped forward to pursue him until Kakashi raised his arm to block her. "Let him go. He's made his choice."
Sakura, fighting back her tears, struggled to maintain her composure. "B-But sensei...!"
Kakashi shook his head firmly at her, looking at his fallen pupil before vanishing. "You take care of Naruto. I have to meet up with somebody."
As Kakashi vanished, Sakura immediately ran to Naruto's aid as members of Team Takagi along with their instructor appeared. Taichi whistled in surprise at the mess while Gray started immediately looking for Sasuke using his Byakuggan. Mimi scowled deeply as she sniffed the smell of smoke burning from the ground and the singed laundry. Izumi stared in horror as her body shivered fearfully from the intensity of the flames. She noticed the chakra surrounding the area had become heavier as her body seemed to sink to the ground.
Manyama whistled lightly, scanning the area. "Whoo, someone decided to go wonky. What did we miss?"
Takagi faintly heard Sasuke's movements, feeling the malice in the air and glanced at the three power houses. "Mimi, Gray, Taichi, go after Sasuke. Make sure you don't lose track of him."
"I knew he was gonna do something stupid," Mimi snickered darkly, cracking her knuckles. "It's show time!"
Inhaling deeply, Gray glanced at his two partners and nodded at them before vanishing to track down Sasuke.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Mimi scowled deeply as she leapt from building to building, looking from the highest point to look for her cousin. She knew he had some insane obsession with power but she didn't expect him to fly out of hand so early in the game. She and Sasuke may have had their differences but he started becoming more affable as the missions continued. In fact, she had gone from trying to kill him from simply bad-mouthing him due to wanting to get a good fight out of him. When she fought him back there, Mimi couldn't fight back the sudden urge to shudder violently at the malicious chakra burning out of his body. She remembered the huge aura that had seized her during the preliminary parts of the Chuunin exam; could that guy have also gotten to Sasuke? If so, that definitely explained a lot.
Taichi growled in annoyance, reappearing next to Mimi. "This guy is totally pissing me off. He keeps running around!"
Gray chuckled dryly with his usual trickster smirk, landing right next to Mimi inaudibly. "You expect him to sit around and shout 'I'm over here' don't you?"
Taichi snorted in annoyance and Mimi rolling her eyes sarcastically. "Though I may say he's an ass, you're a bigger idiot than he is you know. At least he knows how to disguise his tracks..."
"Hey!"
Gray snapped sharply, causing the two to look at him attentively. "Enough! We're not here to fight each other; we're here to pursue Sasuke! Alright, since sitting here and getting a bird's eye view isn't helping – we'll have to split up and cover more ground. I'll take the eastern side of Konohagakure. Mimi, check the Uchiha manor. As much as you don't like it, try to find anything that would lead Sasuke to Orochimaru and find out where his destination is. Taichi, use your sense of smell. Seiryuu should be able to pick up Sasuke's scent in no time."
As the two sprinted off, Gray headed towards the eastern area with his Byakuggan activated. He immediately began trying to identify the chakra until his feet suddenly brought him in front of the Hyuuga complex. His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the huge complex area before preparing to walk away.
"Gray."
Swivelling his head up, he found Hiashi standing in front of him and immediately resorted to his polite stance. "Hiashi-sama, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
Hiashi frowned slightly, keeping his arms folded. "Gray, you don't have to be that formal."
"Even as family, I am simply from the Branch House. Again, I would like to repeat: to what do I owe this pleasure," Gray felt his patience wearing thin but kept his composure while constantly looking for traces of Sasuke's chakra. Tch, that kid really knows how to hide.
Hiashi sighed deeply, pulling out something from his pocket. "When you returned here into the village, someone had dropped this off for you. I do not know who that person is or was. But I definitely know it was a she..."
"A she," Gray raised an eyebrow as he took the wrapped parcel, slowly unwrapping it until he found an ice imbued blade. "Wait this is...!"
"It seems you recognize it but unfortunately, I cannot tell you what it is for even I do not know what it is," Hiashi smiled sadly, turning away. "You and Neji are the memento of my two younger brothers that I have failed to protect. Hikaru was very special to my mother and I. Hiazashi would have said the same if he had not sacrificed his life for me."
Gray nodded slowly as he looked at the blade carefully, bowing humbly. "Thank you; I will treasure this blade always."
Suddenly, the blade began to hum a low sound as words started to appear on it.
Не забудькто вы есть
(Do not forget who you are)
His eyes widened and noticed the strange characters, letting his fingers glide gently across it. Where had he seen those words before? Closing his eyes, he remembered the times he spent in the wave country and remembered his mother speaking in another distinct language. It was definitely not amongst the natives. The word sounded more out of this world and in fact, many people had called it some bewitchment speak.
"Ne zabud'kto vy yest'," Gray read carefully as realization shot through him like a bullet; how did he know how to read this language if he never consciously encountered it before? "This blade was my..."
Before he could say anything, Hiashi had already returned inside the complex. Sighing deeply to himself, the trickster immediately left the area while extending his Byakuggan's range. Disgusted with how he couldn't find him, Gray started searching deeper into the areas until he found himself bumping into Mimi.
"Found him yet," Mimi scowled darkly, kicking a pebble aside.
Before Gray could say anything, a deep rumble reached them with a malicious intent. Gray and Mimi's eyes widened as they heard a loud explosion following shortly after with Taichi rolling on the ground. Their eyes widened as Gray and Mimi leapt into the fray and stood in front of Taichi, only to see a maliciously grinning Sasuke with chakra seeping out of his sides. Gray's eyes widened as he tried focusing the Byakuggan to understand the flow of his chakra but barely could see it.
"Shit, he has so much chakra," Gray scowled darkly before staring in astonishment, looking at the darkened Uchiha walking towards him. "I can't detect the flow or anything! It's spiking all over the place!"
Taichi looked around, seeing many houses. "Dude, I know I'm destruction crazy but we gotta bring this fight out! Fast!"
Mimi nodded vigorously, seeing movement behind the windows. "This place is too crowded, someone could get hurt!"
Gray darkly stared at him, glaring deathly at his former colleague. "He did that on purpose because we're known for heavy property destruction. Now that there is a higher possibility of casualties, we will be forced to take responsibility if we don't control it."
Sasuke applauded mockingly with a smirk. "Very good, reject. It seems like we're on the same page."
Gray glanced at Taichi with a nod before turning to Mimi. "Get the bystanders out of here, Mimi and I will take this guy down. Your powers are more defensive than offensive."
Taichi pouted with a snort, folding his arms impishly. "Aww man, not even one hit?"
"Taichi, I know you. You're gonna go bonkers the minute he calls you dust for brains," Gray rolled his eyes sarcastically before gesturing behind him, taking his battle stance. "Besides, between the three of us – his chakra's no match for yours. We're gonna wear him down a bit. You go get the people out of here when things start to get ugly."
With a defeated snort, Taichi left reluctantly. "Fine but you better leave in a few hits for me!"
"We will," Gray waved his hand dismissively, freezing up the water from his water jug.
"No fucking shit we're gonna make short work of him," Mimi grinned sardonically and preparing to perform a whole set of Jutsu seals. "You ready to get fried?"
Sasuke chuckled darkly as his powers started shooting. "What makes you think they're gonna believe some psychopaths like you? You were sent to an asylum and you were in dungeon pitied by the Hokage! What place do you have here?"
Mimi flared as she immediately began putting the Jutsu together. "Oh you're gonna get it you little fucktard – Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"
As a huge wide arc of flaming flowers shot at him, Sasuke just wheeled himself away before dashing straight into his female cousin with a blade straight out to impale her. Before he could close the gap, Gray knocked him over with a sliding scissor kick. With an annoyed snort, Sasuke jumped up and grabbed Gray by his hoodie and flung him with an insane monstrous strength towards Mimi who leapt over him to unleash a huge fireball. Sasuke chuckled darkly as he easily manoeuvred himself past the fireball before kicking Mimi straight into the gut. The female Uchiha slammed into the barrels and prompted Sasuke to go attack her until he felt a cold wind brush against his skin.
"What the," Sasuke's eyes widened as Gray held out a blade in one hand as it began to glow with the Hyuuga male's eyes glimmering with some frost-like vengeance. "What the...?"
"Ukus v morozil'nuyu zimniy," Gray hissed before stabbing the blade into the ground. "Marzanna*!"
Sasuke's ice widened as a young woman emerged from the ice with the ground cracking with many crystals spearing out of the ground. Mimi gawked at the new language that Gray suddenly started speaking. Where the heck did that come from? Gray had never shown any particular interest in crazy new languages and certainly he didn't show any signs of bothering to learn it. She quickly ran through her memory banks if they had picked up anything back at the asylum but the people there never bothered teaching them so where had he started speaking a new language? Winter started coming in early as snowflakes started to fall and the skies darkened and became grey.
Sasuke chuckled in amusement before his face contorted into a maniacal rage. "WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET THAT?"
Gray remained extremely silent as Sasuke charged him down. Blow after blow, Gray dodged it and managed to zip past Sasuke without difficulty as a blast of chakra knocked him over. Furious, Sasuke chased after Gray as the Hyuuga male unleashed his chakra control to climb up the wall and let Sasuke slam into it before kicking him. Throwing another punch, Sasuke threw punches one after the other while Gray seemed to glide as his foot began freezing the floor and whatever it touched. The young woman howled with an icicle fury, freezing Sasuke before grabbing him and lifting him into the air. He kicked himself away as the angel flew towards Sasuke who quickly dodged it
"Hey you, you stupid ass wipe," Mimi leapt up in the air, preparing to unleash a fireball. "You didn't forget about me did you?"
Sasuke spun around with a darkened sneer, preparing to kick her down. "I couldn't forget you even if I tried!"
Without any warning, the ice woman blasted a huge wave of icy dust and knocked Sasuke against the wall. More crystals started to appear as he found himself completely frozen against the wall.
Mimi stared in astonishment as the woman grabbed Sasuke from behind. "What the hell is she doing!?"
She looked up and saw Marzanna, Gray's summoned spirit or whatever she thought it was, floating right in front of her cousin with her fingers in a position to snap. Her eyes widened when Gray started mimicking her actions with the eyes she remembered seeing long time ago.
Soulless.
Non-existent.
Cold.
Heartless.
The eyes of a killer.
Gray snapped his fingers without any hesitation, with cold and unfeeling eyes. "Diamond Dust!"
With a snap of his fingers, the stalagmites shattered instantly as ice shards began to swirl around Sasuke. The male Uchiha's eyes widened as the ice shards began slashing through his clothes as the shards converged towards him and began cutting deeper and deeper. Mimi stared in amazement as Sasuke took the beating and Gray refused to let up. She stood, completely frozen whether or not to stop her brother from shooting the daylights out of her few remaining relatives even if Sasuke had gone psychotic on her.
"Damn, now I have two relatives going bonkers – hm, but I'd choose Gray any day," Mimi prepared to unleash a full powered Housenka barrage. "Alright – here it goes!"
On the other hand, Sasuke stared in horror as his rival immediately surpassed him without even trying. With a single artifact, Gray had managed to turn the tides of the fight very quickly. He snarled in fury and frustration; why did people keep on becoming stronger when he barely had anything?
"ENOUGH," Sasuke unleashed the full power of the cursed seal as it started covering his body.
Gray snapped out of his trance as Marzanna suddenly disappeared with a powerful chakra shockwave slamming into him. "Shit!"
Without any time to react, Gray felt the shockwaves slam into his body and sent him plummeting towards the ground until someone slid under and caught him. Seeing the huge power shift in Sasuke, Taichi instantly began activating his own chakra seeing how wasted his partner was. With a draconic roar, Taichi lunged at Sasuke with his claws and his eyes turning green. The male Uchiha planned on kicking him until Taichi twisted his body in mid-air and knocked down Sasuke into a pile of garbage before unleashing huge stones converging to crush Sasuke. The purple chakra surrounding Sasuke howled and smashed the rocks and gave Sasuke a huge boost as the male Uchiha zoomed towards Taichi and threw punches at him with explosive sounds. Mimi, feeling the malice pouring out of his body, winced slightly as she began gathering her own power into her Mangenkyou Sharingan. A huge black flame shot out as Mimi winced at the strain and stretch of her chakra.
"Tch," Mimi ran forward to grab him as he Vanished once again, leaving the three of them astounded by his power. "FUCKING HELL, DID HE HAVE TO RUN AWAY AGAIN!?"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
As night fell, the stars glistened as a male Uchiha started making his way out of the village. He had gained all the knowledge he needed in Konohagakure. They could not possibly offer him anything more. Sasuke, picking up his bags before taking one last look at his apartment, slowly closed the door behind him in silence. The whole village had fallen asleep as he continued to make his way out. As he began strolling along the stone path, he heard a few twigs and branches snap. He immediately stopped and pulled out a kunai only to see a little rabbit running out from the forest. Sighing in relief, Sasuke continued making his way down the pathway until he found a very familiar face.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura trembled lightly in front of him as her eyes began to spill with tears. "Where are you going?"
Sasuke remained silent as he continued to walk past her, dismissing her quickly and coldly. "It's none of your concern."
"Sasuke-kun, please don't go!"
He wanted to walk away but he decided to listen to Sakura's plead first. He knew that she always looked at him but somehow, he found her clinginess irritating more than helpful. In all their missions, even if Naruto had been the biggest idiot on the face of the earth – between the two of them, Naruto had been more helpful than he had shown himself to be. Sure there were times they would bicker and fight like children but that was the way brotherly friendships worked, he mused. He remembered the times that Naruto had also nearly got himself killed for his sake but Sakura – where was she? Scowling inwardly at her weakness, Sasuke slowly turned around to face her as the night winds began to blow.
Frankly, he was quite happy to be rid of her.
"Sasuke-kun, I know you find me annoying but I love you and I don't want to lose you!"
Sasuke refused to grace her with a response.
At that point, Sakura had an inner feeling that Sasuke would try to leave the village. She had to stop him before something bad happened! She could only imagine being commanded to take the life of the boy she had come to admire and love. The mere thought sent shivers down her spine as she stayed in front of him, waiting for his response. Sakura bit her lower lip anxiously; would Sasuke really abandon them? Would he really abandon the village for the sake of power? She whimpered and hung her head with tears forming and falling down her face uncontrollably.
"Sakura, thank you but," Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his soon-to-be former teammate, staring at her darkly. "There's someone else."
Sakura's eyes widened as Sasuke continued to move away until he reappeared behind her. "And, I can't let anyone know I left."
With one swift motion, Sasuke knocked out his teammate as he continued walking on. He remembered how he fought Mimi, Taichi and Gray back there. The adrenaline of power was severely tempting and he needed it! He wanted to take revenge for his family! Itachi had slaughtered all the clan members as if they were pigs in a pen. He bit his lower lip and clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white. The moonlight slowly faded as he continued walking on towards the exit and entrance of his home village. As he reached the gate, his eyes widened when he found vines suddenly sprouting out from the ground and barring him from passing. He narrowed his eyes and found the very crimson haired Yamanaka ninja who had been occupying his thoughts as of late. He gazed straight into her amethyst eyes as she inhaled deeply.
"I'm not going to stop you from leaving if that's what you really want," Izumi breathed in deeply as the vines slowly shrivelled away. "I just want you to listen to me before you go."
Sasuke found himself puzzled by the red haired kunoichi from standing in front of him; she's not going to stop him?
"You're probably expecting me to yell at you and say "please don't go" and cry my freakin' ass out but," Izumi hung her head, forcing her body to stop trembling. "I won't because you probably never wanted to stay. You wanted footholds that could get you to your ambitions. Mimi had warned me ahead that you're not the same Sasuke that she would tease and soon get into a playful brawl in. Gray and Taichi, when I saw how badly beat up they were – I knew there was something wrong but there's still a part of me that still believes that the Sasuke I have grown to admire is still there. So all I'm going to say is this – just try and gain your power the right way but you know what – you were well on your way there right now."
Sasuke blinked several times as he looked at her glassy amethyst eyes.
"Do you want to know why Gray always had the upper hand over you? Why Taichi despite being a bijuu can control his power so well? Why Manyama always had the power and accuracy to take down multiple opponents? Why Mimi despite being like you became extremely more powerful?"
Actually, those questions had been pestering him for a long time now. He remained silent and waited for her response.
"It's compassion."
Compassion? Sasuke wanted to gawk at her stupidly. How the hell did that make them stronger?
"Compassion is to give out the best of your abilities for others and to live for others. Gray once told me that if he became a heartless killer to seek out his family's murderer – he would've thrown away everything they had taught him and that was a worse fate than their deaths," Izumi bitterly smiled as she took a step closer to him. "Taichi said that if he only sought power now he would've become the very thing that Konoha demanded him to be. Mimi told me that she wanted to defeat them in a different way. A way where she wouldn't need to try at all and Manyama always wanted to make sure we were all okay. So, they decided to be the opposite. Gray became a Trickster style ninja, Taichi had learned control and assertiveness, Mimi learned how to live and enjoy life and Manyama always made sure they never lost themselves to their ambitions. As for me though..."
Sasuke raised his eyebrow at the female Yamanaka; this was beyond unexpected.
"The Yamanaka's symbol is the violet which means blunt, candid love," Izumi placed her hand over her chest with a serene smile. "Frankly, I used to think if I got any stronger you'd try talking to me. I used to think that hearing your voice made it my day. But now – what made it more my day is that I managed to help you or at least lighten your load a little. To me, helping you was good enough to at least try to make you see what made my teammates so much stronger. I used to think I was weak but now I realized – everyone has a certain part to play and right now, I'm going to be the one to at least keep your morals in check even if your ways of seeking power is unorthodox."
With that, Sasuke never found himself so astonished in his life. He had heard girls confess to him and he turned them down but hers sounded extremely sincere. She wasn't going to stop him but Izumi simply planned to help him along the way without getting himself killed. A small smile crept up his lips as he placed the bag down and started walking towards her. Despite his cursed seal bugging him to turn away from her, he felt a stronger force pulling himself towards her. His hand stretched out and before he knew it, it snaked right around her waist and pulled her close to him. Izumi stared in shock as he took off her forehead guard and right there kissed her forehead. Her eyes widened and her face heated up considerably as his fingers ran through her crimson tresses.
"I would bring you along with me but I can't. Just... wait for me."
Izumi blinked as Sasuke slowly disappeared from her view, unsure to make of his words.
That's chapter 29! Sorry for the late update!
