At the end of the popular 1978 Musical "Grease", the main stars Danny and Sandy fly away in a car into the clouds. Why does this event take place, especially when it's so out of left field? This is because the entire movie is actually set in Purgatory, and every character seen in the film is actually a tortured soul trying to earn passage into the afterlife. In this essay I will-
Er. Wait. Right. Naruto.
Chapter 40: The Drunk and the Hemophobe
"Hey, Naruto?"
"Sup?"
"I've got an idea."
Naruto tilted his head at that, silently asking the boy the question without having to say it.
"I was thinking… your problem with the Rasengan is that you're having trouble controlling it, right?"
Naruto nodded, sighing as he rubbed the back of his head.
"It's annoying, but yeah."
"It's giving you trouble with just your two hands."
He nodded once more, silently wondering where this was going.
"Make some Shadow Clones and get them to help."
Naruto turned back to look at the boy, accidentally dropping his focus on the Rasengan building up in his hand. It exploded inside his palms, knocking him flat on his ass and making him wince as Sasuke snickered quietly, trying to disguise the motion as a cough.
Huh… Naruto thought silently. That could work.
"Well, worth a shot at least."
He stood back up and drew his hands together in the Shadow Clone's trademark sign, spawning another just before him that held it's hands out. Naruto put his own hands in the same spot, and began to spin his chakra between them. He focused on control, whereas the clone beside him focused on containing the sphere's destructive force, keeping it in a small ball that could be devastatingly powerful.
It broke apart a second later, causing both he and the clone to go flying backwards, sending both of them onto the harsh dirt below. Naruto could only groan as he heard the telltale sound of a clone dissipating.
And also the telltale sound of Sasuke giggling at his mistake.
"Well, that's that, I guess." Naruto spoke disappointedly. "And stop laughing at me! This was your dumb idea!"
"Why not just try again with another clone?" Sasuke asked, coughing once more into his fist to dispel the last of his mirth. "If you're still struggling with control, just try adding another one to help out."
His eyes widened.
"Y'know, that could work."
"Yes, it could." Sasuke reiterated.
Naruto repeated the earlier ritual, before adding in another clone, and trying once more to contain the palm-sized hurricane's strength.
Something about having three people working on the ball of chakra made things far easier to deal with. It no longer felt like the churning mass had a will of it's own. No, now, despite everything, it felt like it was he who was in control of the Rasengan's might.
Clearly it can't be this easy. Naruto thought skeptically. There's gotta be something that'll prevent this from working…
Even still, he dissipated his clones, and ran towards a nearby tree. Having already formed the Rasengan, he'd already done the hard part of making it, but that didn't mean maintaining the sphere was easy. He could feel it trying to tear away at his palm, trying to free itself from containment, once more, seemingly, gaining a mind with which it struggled.
He made it to the tree before it could break in any way, and shoved his creation into the bark.
The wood let out a horrid sound as the Rasengan cut into it, splintering bark and chippings all around as a clean, almost beautiful hole was carved into the tree. As he passed through it completely, and his hand came out the other side, he finally allowed the Rasengan to evaporate into the air, a bit dumbfounded.
Naruto's face contorted in several odd ways. At first, disbelief that such a technique could allow him to get past his limitations. Then, there was a complete and utter disappointment in his own self for not thinking of that earlier. And finally, the smallest, tiniest amount of gratitude towards the boy for bringing such a thing to his attention.
"Huh." Was about all that came out of his mouth, however.
Sasuke's smirk was semi-self-satisfied. He lightly tapped Naruto on the shoulder as he walked over to him, offering his fist out.
"You're welcome." The boy spoke with a quiet laugh.
Naruto groaned, but bumped the boy's fist with his own, smiling despite himself. A moment later, his eyes widened again, and he turned towards the town in the distance with a mischievous grin.
"Heeeey…" Naruto spoke under his breath. "I do believe I've fulfilled little miss slug's bet!" He looked back towards Sasuke, eyes gleaming. "What say we go rub it in her face and get that necklace?"
Sasuke sighed, but he did still walk behind the boy as they set off back towards the town.
"Maybe don't take the necklace." Sasuke advised him, looking down a bit awkwardly as they walked side by side. "I know you earned it and everything, but that girl, Shizune, seemed to be really concerned about it, I don't think we should-"
"If she wants to offer it to me, then I'll take it!" Naruto argued. "If she doesn't want me to, then… then I guess I won't, but still, she'll definitely owe us the Hokage thing anyways, so she'll just have to do that even more now!"
"That…" Sasuke seemed extremely confused. "Y'know what, sure. I'll pretend that sentence made sense and agree with you."
Naruto could only glare.
When they arrived back in their tiny hotel room, Naruto and Sasuke were surprised to find they weren't alone.
And for once, there being someone else present in their room when there wasn't supposed to be didn't mean they were going to have to fight someone to the death. Naruto was actually shocked.
"Ah, you're back." Tsunade's retainer bowed deeply, which Naruto felt was about several thousand times too much for them. "My apologies for entering your room unannounced. There was… something I needed to go over with the two of you."
"No, no, that's fine." Sasuke absolved the woman. "What was it you wanted to discuss with us?"
"Well…" Shizune looked at Naruto, and the boy couldn't help but tilt his head to the side somewhat, even if he had a pretty good idea about why she was here. "I wanted to tell you about that necklace Lady Tsunade owns. It's… it's important, to say the least."
Naruto sighed, already feeling his chances of obtaining the really cool necklace worth several mountains going down the drain, but he nodded to the woman anyways.
"We'll hear it."
/-/
When Shizune had finished, Naruto massaged his chin with one hand, as deep in thought as the Jinchuuriki could be.
"Thank you for being so understanding." Shizune smiled at the both of them, letting out a breath of relief as she finished her story. "I know she made that bet with you, but… well, I think she would deeply regret losing that necklace, even with all that's happened."
"Yes, I agree." Sasuke spoke, looking back towards Naruto. "A family heirloom of that much importance isn't something to go around giving out to some kid that she was too stubborn to give any credit to."
"I'm glad you agree." Shizune laughed slightly. "I'll try and talk with Lady Tsunade later today, and see if she can't get you some other kind of reward, she did make a bet, after all-"
"Nah." Naruto spoke up, smirking as he looked back towards Shizune. "I think I'll take that necklace after all."
Both Sasuke and Shizune looked at him with wide eyes, before the latter seemed to grow worried, and the former seemed rather annoyed.
"Oi, Naruto." His best friend spoke up, eyes narrow as he approached him. "Didn't you just hear, she tried to give that necklace-"
"To her brother and boyfriend, yeah, I heard." Naruto nodded sagely, eyes closed, before he turned and looked back up at both of them, a huge smile on his face. "That's why I've gotta' be the one to take that off her hands! I won't let her keep that burden on her!"
"Huh?"
"I'm saying that I think that necklace is weighing her down, or something. She's holding onto it because of what it means to her, but really, I think she probably wants to be rid of it as well."
"That's-!" Shizune began angrily, but held herself back, calming down and continuing a second later. "And what makes you so sure?"
"Oh, nothing really." Naruto rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm just sort of guessing."
Shizune shot him a look of awed confusion, as if she couldn't quite comprehend how anyone could be like him. Sasuke, on the other hand, groaned into his hand, probably attempting to disassociate to the point where he could pretend he didn't know him.
"That's…" Shizune actually giggled a second later, despite everything. "That's very interesting, Naruto."
"Interesting is a word for it, I guess." Sasuke muttered quietly. "And if you're wrong?"
"Then I just give the necklace back, duh?"
Sasuke opened his mouth, trying to find some way of arguing against him. He shut it without any complaint, simply nodding.
"Sure, why not."
Naruto looked towards Shizune, trying to get the woman's approval for his plan. He had been expecting to see some doubt in her eyes, but instead, he was greeted by a small, sad smile on the woman's face, as if she were reminiscing in memories that she would've rather forgotten.
"You're just like them." She spoke simply. "Straightforward to a fault, yet undeniably kind." She sighed peacefully a moment later, before she walked up to him and ruffled his hair lightly. "Alright, I'll let Tsunade know you've learned to use the Rasengan. We'll see what she has to say about your reward."
Naruto nodded with a sunny smile, turning back to Sasuke and shooting the boy a thumbs up. Sasuke, for his credit, didn't look away, instead merely sighing and shooting one back himself.
"Oh, by the way, did Lord Jiraiya tell the two of you if he was going out with Tsunade later today?" Shizune spoke up suddenly. "She certainly didn't tell me anything about it, but, well, she's not back at our hotel."
Naruto looked to Sasuke, raising an eyebrow, and receiving a shrug in return.
"We haven't heard anything. Sorry."
"Ah, no worries, no worries." The woman walked to the back of the room, waving to the both of them as she opened the door. "Thank you, you two. Have a good day."
As the door shut, and the two of them were once again left alone with their thoughts, Naruto couldn't help but voice his mind on one thing.
"Does she feel… too nice to you?"
"No, but I get what you mean."
/-/
It was around four in the morning that Sasuke began to grow suspicious.
Naruto had, as he always did, said that everything would probably be fine around twelve o'clock, and gone to sleep before Sasuke had had a chance to reprimand him. He did wake him up a few times, but even when he was technically awake, it was clear to the Uchiha that his friend was still asleep, at least in spirit.
And so, he'd let the boy rest, resolving to stay awake on his own rather than constantly fight with the idiot. He sat on the outermost bed in the room, quietly watching the candle that sat on the center desk burn silently.
Jiraiya's late. Sasuke confirmed to himself, looking towards the clock on the back wall. He's usually back by 1 at the latest.
There was an uncomfortable feeling of dread in his stomach, pooling near the bottom and weighing down his actions. His intuition seemed to scream that something wasn't right.
Which was weirdly annoying, given that his intuition was right a lot of the time.
He walked over to the second bed, lightly shaking Naruto's arm in an effort to wake the boy.
"Naruto, get up." He spoke seriously. "We might have a real situation."
The boy opened his eyes slowly, shooting him an annoyed glare. He didn't complain anymore than that, however, instead sitting up and yawning, before once more dawning his orange coat and pants.
"Alright, fine. What's up?"
"It's four."
"Yes, trust me," Naruto muttered under his breath. "I know."
"Jiraiya's not back."
The boy's eyes widened minutely, and he sat up a bit more on the bed, now truly taking this seriously.
"Do you think this is related to what Shizune was talking about earlier?"
"Well, I'm certainly not saying it's not connected." Sasuke let out with a sigh. "It seems likely, at the very least. Let's take her advice on this. She said that she thought they would go out drinking, so let's first check some of the bars around the block, see if he passed out drunk or something."
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"If that guy made me wake up at four in the morning because he was drunk…"
Sasuke smiled.
"There'll be hell to pay?"
"Oh hell is putting it lightly."
They traveled outside at a fast pace, though still moving slow enough that they could fully analyze the streets around them as they went.
Sasuke was surprised to find how active the roads were, however. He knew, of course, that a city known for it's gambling, for that was the reason Tsunade had come here, would have a bit of a nightlife. He was still surprised at just how large the crowds this tiny border town could draw in truly were.
People walked all around, drunkenly shouting obscenities at one another, playing games with cards and dice as they swindled and haggled one another. It was an odd scene to look at for Sasuke, given that he was, technically, still a child.
I really hope Naruto's not like them when he grows up. Sasuke thought with narrowed eyes. I mean… a Hokage who acted like that… no one would accept someone like that.
…Wait they're about to get Tsunade.
Before he could think too hard about that particular morsel of info, he caught sight of a familiar figure, slumped on the floor beside an open bar. He gestured towards him while getting Naruto's attention, and the two of them dashed over to the passed out form of Jiraiya.
Sasuke immediately reached for the man's neck, but it proved to be needless when the man loudly snored a second later.
"Really…" Naruto murmured angrily under his breath. "He actually just passed out drunk!?"
"It does seem like that." Sasuke admitted, feeling a bead of sweat flow down the side of his face. "Now before you do anything rash-"
Naruto brought a black marker out of his coat, and, with a devilish grin, brought his hand forth towards the man's face.
"You realize this is incredibly immature, right?"
Naruto glanced up at him, his right eyebrow rising ever higher.
"Do you want me to stop?"
"Well I never said that, did I?"
/-/
By the time they made it back to the hotel room, both he and Naruto were entirely spent. As it turned out, even with two people, carrying an unconscious giant who easily weighed two hundred pounds was pretty damn hard.
"I hate him." Naruto growled out as he practically threw the man to the floor, panting heavily as he walked back over to his bed. "I now no longer feel mercy. Just a mustache and monocle weren't enough." The boy drew his marker back out, uncapping it and smiling a bit too wide, looking almost creepy. "He will pay for this with his dignity."
"You say that like he has any."
Naruto nodded as he went to work, and Sasuke couldn't help but want to hit the hay himself. He smiled slightly at the sound of the squeaking marker on the older sage's skin, but otherwise found himself thinking, annoyingly enough.
Sure, it's possible Jiraiya just got himself drunk under the table by Tsunade. Sasuke pondered. But… it's also possible that something more insidious is going on. He's never messed up like that before, is it too much of a stretch to think he wouldn't now?
As he was pondering this and that, Naruto suddenly let out a tiny yelp, and Sasuke nearly panicked, throwing off his covers and checking on his friend, before he sighed in relief, instead sitting back down.
"Kid…" Jiraiya muttered groggily. "I want you to know that later, when the situation isn't quite as dire?" The man got into Naruto's face. "You will pay for what you've done."
Naruto simply nodded.
"Right, so we've got a bit of a situation." The Sannin spoke up, doing his best to sit himself up, but slipping a second later, nearly collapsing on the floor if not for Naruto's intervention. "Heh, thanks kid. Don't think this means I've forgotten your sin."
Naruto's smile was shaky at best.
"Ok, so… abridging certain things for the sake of time… There's a chance that Tsunade's made a deal with Orochimaru, and is now on her way to heal the man's arms and make him a threat to every nation on the continent once more."
Sasuke blinked once, then again, feeling as if he must've missed some bridging section in this conversation that got them here.
"I thought Tsunade was a more… rational or… good person than that?"
"She is." Jiraiya sighed out. "She really is kid, I don't… there's not a lot that bastard could offer that would make someone like her do something like this, but… well, I've got my ideas. As for us, I think first things first is to go to her hotel room. There's a chance she's still preparing and hasn't left yet."
"Wait…" Naruto spoke quickly. "When would we be doing that!?"
"Uhm…" Jiraiya looked at the boy oddly. "Now?"
"But… but I haven't really gotten much sleep, so-"
"Right, sorry. Didn't realize the fate of the country was worth less than your sleep schedule." Jiraiya spoke condescendingly. "My mistake there, you go ahead and take a nap."
Naruto glared at the man, but rose from his spot on the floor and walked towards the door.
"Fine. Let's go."
Sasuke smirked.
"You do realize I've gotten no sleep, correct?"
Naruto sighed.
"Please don't turn this into a "I've slept less than you." competition." Naruto muttered. "You've never needed much sleep at all to function."
"I think it's that I'm much better at reserving my energy during the day, unlike a certain hyperactive oddball I know."
"Ugh, you're annoying as all hell."
"I think the word you were looking for there was "Correct."."
"Agh! Shut up!"
"If you two are done…" Jiraiya spoke up from behind the two of them, his massive shadow looming over them. "Then we've got things to do."
"By the way, Sensei…" Sasuke felt like bringing up. "You were passed out earlier, but… I had the feeling that wasn't entirely your doing. Are you sure you're alright?"
Jiraiya rubbed his chin, seemingly contemplating how much he wanted to tell the two of them.
"Well, I'm not going to drop dead or anything, if that's what you're worried about."
Worst case scenario averted. Sasuke smiled, relieved. Still…
"What's actually wrong, then?"
"Nothing major. Tsunade managed to slip something into my drink when I wasn't expecting it. I should've been being more vigilant, but, well…" The man paused for a second, a flash of pain crossing his visage as he grunted slightly. "I just didn't suspect she'd do something like that. She's just not…"
Sasuke himself had a pretty decent idea of what that felt like, to be betrayed, but he held his tongue. No need to drop the mood of the conversation when Itachi wasn't at all relevant.
Though… I do wonder if I'll get the chance to meet him again soon. Sasuke wondered, idly cracking his right hand as his fingers splayed out slightly, subconsciously taking the shape they did when he activated Chidori. If I know what he can do going in, then maybe I can actually kill him next time.
"Anyways, the drug is making it a bit hard for me to move, for the first part," Jiraiya's words knocked him out of his headspace, forcing him to focus on the then and there. "It's also hurting my chakra usage, makes it… real difficult to focus."
"Are you good to walk?" Naruto asked, trying to hide his concern for the man.
"Eh, I'm good-ish." Jiraiya actually smirked. "Glad to know you're worried about me."
"I'm not worried about you!" Naruto shouted, grinding his teeth together for a moment, before, with a little laugh, it became a wide smile. "By the way, your mustache looks amazing."
Jiraiya scowled at the boy, rubbing his upper lip with a small amount of water, and looking even more pissed off when he realized the writing had been done with a permanent marker.
"You will pay for this." Jiraiya told the twelve-year old before him. "I'll make sure of it."
/-/
Naruto watched silently as Jiraiya knocked once, then a second time on Tsunade and Shizune's room. It wasn't a particularly nice hotel, but Naruto had gathered, through his brief experiences with the female Sannin, that she wasn't exactly loaded with cash.
Upon getting no response after waiting for perhaps half a minute, Jiraiya brought out a small tool from his bag. It was a simple thing, and something Naruto and Sasuke had both dealt with numerous times during their pranking years.
It was a lockpick.
"I'm a bit rusty at this…" Jiraiya admitted with a small smirk. "Haven't encountered a locked door I wasn't allowed to simply blow up in… Gods, maybe a decade."
"I'm actually pretty good at that." Sasuke spoke up. "I can use the Sharingan to see inside the lock as well."
"Huh." Jiraiya sounded surprised. "Alright, sure, you're up."
Sasuke took the tools out of the man's hands, bringing them to the lock and examining them with his newly red eyes. They seemed to observe every single piece of the metal before him, and then, after he'd taken his time to make sure he caught everything, he finally stuck them inside the opening.
It wasn't fast work, lockpicking never really was. He liked to consider himself fairly proficient at the technique, but even he took an average of one to two minutes to pick a lock. After about half that, Sasuke came up victorious, giving a tiny sound of affirmation as he pushed the door open, revealing the lit interior of Tsunade's room.
And the fallen form of her retainer.
"Shizune!" Naruto swore under his breath as he charged into the room, immediately reaching down and checking the woman's pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief a moment later. "She's knocked out, but definitely still got a heartbeat."
"She was breathing when we opened the door." Jiraiya let out with a small snicker. "But jeez, to care that much, you guys must've bonded."
"Not really…" Naruto murmured under his breath, though he couldn't deny the white-hot worry that still festered inside his stomach. "She was just really nice to me and Sasuke… I definitely didn't want to see her get hurt, I guess."
"Y'know, your feelings aren't something you have to hide." Sasuke spoke up as he kneeled beside him. "I was concerned for her the moment I spotted her as well, although, with the Sharingan's added vision, I could see the rising and falling of her chest, so I knew she was fine. That's the only reason I, too, didn't rush in here, ready to defend her."
Naruto could admire that about the boy before him. As a child, when they'd first met, Sasuke had been almost entirely closed off, a veritable ball of edge that didn't even try to make friends, let alone express his feelings.
Nowadays, though, the boy was unafraid to say that he had friends, and he called Naruto his best friend. He was unafraid to say how he felt a lot of the time, and that made getting along with him even easier than it used to be. On the contrary, he couldn't help but find expressing his own feelings a bit difficult.
But when it came to people like him, people like Gaara, and Haku, and Sasuke…
There was an odd sort of connection there. A connection that let him get past his worries and speak from the heart.
When it came to people like Shizune, people he didn't really know… He found it a bit harder to be honest when it came to them. Well, more than that, he found it was a bit harder to talk to people who weren't used to his personality.
He'd be the first to admit he was a bit rambunctious, but that didn't mean, at least, in his opinion, that he couldn't also be a cool person. Some people, a lot of them older, seemed to think the two things were mutually exclusive.
He growled under his breath at the thought of the adults in the leaf village, but said nothing as he turned back to Jiraiya, waiting to hear what they'd be told to do.
"A moment." Jiraiya pulled something out of his coat, an odd sort of powder that he ran underneath Shizune's nose. "Let's hope that works."
Whatever it was, it seemed to. Shizune roused from her sleep ever so slightly, moment by moment, fidgeting once or twice, until her eyes finally opened, and she shot up, a hand outstretched towards the door.
"Lady Tsunade, wait-!" She cut off as she realized who was there, and more importantly, who wasn't. "Y-you guys…"
"Yo." Jiraiya spoke calmly, before nearly falling backwards as his legs seemed to collapse out from under him. "Whoa… don't know if that drug is only just now hitting me, or if I'm getting a bit too old to be doing this, but either way… probably not a great sign."
"Did something happen to you, Master Jiraiya?" Shizune asked, already bringing some odd form of green light into her hands. "If there's anything I can-"
"Nah, nothing for you, I'm afraid." Jiraiya lightly slapped his stomach. "Problem's all internal, I'm afraid."
"Did you ingest something? Or was it perhaps excess drink that-"
"Ingested something. Little Ms. Slug drugged me last night."
Shizune's eyes widened once, and then then grew to comical proportions as she suddenly stood ramrod straight, eyes scanning the entire room as she looked for her Master.
"Lady Tsunade, she-!" The woman cut herself off, slamming her fist into the wall beside her. "She's made a deal with Orochimaru."
Naruto and Sasuke both stepped forward, disbelief the only real thing in their gazes. He himself had believed in Tsunade, despite the woman's less than stellar first impression. Everything Jiraiya and Tsunade had told him had led him to believe she was an ally of the Leaf Village, someone they could trust.
For her to betray them like this…
"In that case, my suspicions were correct." Jiraiya sighed, long and painful. "Shizune, if you have any idea where she is, then I urge you-"
"She might've gone back to where we met them before!" The woman spoke just a bit louder than she had been up until then, panic setting into her tone in a way that had Naruto on edge. "If we hurry, we might be able to catch up before she can do anything irrecoverable."
Jiraiya nodded, but he winced the next second, falling to his knees once more, and needing to be supported by Shizune in order to stand.
"Man…" The man let out as he gasped slightly. "Your Master does not skimp on the poison's, let me tell you."
Shizune could only nod awkwardly.
/-/
They hit the edge of the town within the next twenty minutes, although that was almost double how long it would've normally taken, given that they were hauling Jiraiya along the entire way, as the man sputtered out curses towards Tsunade with every passing breath.
"I oughta' poison her damned drink next time…" The man growled out as his facial expressions contorted slightly with pain. "See how she likes it."
"Uhm… Sure, Lord Jiraiya, sir."
"Damned woman… 'chase after her for 3 damned decades, and this is how she repays me!?" Jiraiya pointed to himself at that, as if trying to emphasize his figure. "I mean, I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm kind of a big deal."
"You definitely are, Lord Jiraiya." Shizune's voice didn't even sound convincing to Naruto and Sasuke, so the fact that it somehow fooled the Sannin didn't exactly lend much credibility to his claim of being a so-called "big deal". "I'm sure Lady Tsunade sees that."
"She has to!"
"How long do you think he's going to go on like that?" Sasuke asked him curiously. "Because I'm learning an awful lot about the Three Sannin that I didn't really want to, and it's sort of ruining the image I'd built up of them in my head."
"Honestly?." Naruto answered the boy. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's still doing that while we fight."
"…Y'know what?" Sasuke turned towards him. "Neither would I."
What seemed to be an earthquake shook the ground below them, and Naruto had to actively brace himself to avoid being toppled over by the shaking ground. He glanced at Sasuke, who shot him back the exact same look of confusion.
"That must've been Lady Tsunade!" Shizune shouted, suddenly picking up the pace as she hauled Jiraiya along on her back. "We have to hurry! She's in danger!"
They both nodded, while Jiraiya began talking about how he'd always thought Orochimaru tried too hard during their team exercises, and how it was apparently the Snake Sannin's fault that he always looked so bad.
They rounded a corner and were suddenly met with a decimated road. It looked like it, and only it, had been caught up in a natural disaster. The walls had been broken in numerous places, and there was a massive fissure in the ground below them, the same as the one Tsunade had used to disarm both he and Sasuke during their little duel a few nights back.
"They must've taken the fight outside the city!" Shizune turned to the both of them. "Please, I can't be very fast while carrying him, but the two of you-"
"Way ahead of you, Sis!" Naruto shouted, nodding towards Sasuke as they vaulted the wall before them and ran into the grassy field beyond them. "Try not to take too long though!"
They ran for a while, barely able to see signs of a battle off in the distance. From what Naruto could see, it seemed that somehow some sound ninja and Tsunade were an even match for one another, despite the fact that the latter was supposedly a legendary ninja.
Oh, wait. Naruto thought as he watched the woman's fist connect with the guy's stomach, and send him flying backwards. Looks like she's winning.
They made it into the battle just in time to watch the sound ninja cut into his own hand with a knife and hold it up to Tsunade. The woman physically recoiled, stepping back as the man walked towards her, wielding his bloodied hand like a torch against darkness.
Sasuke charged in first, signaling for Naruto to hold the rear. He did just that, watching as his friend activated his Sharingan and spun into action, dodging the Sound ninja's opening strike and upcutting him in the jaw, sending him flying backwards. Naruto took a defensive stance in front of Tsunade, who even now was still shaking, gripping her arms in an attempt to still them.
"Heh…" The sound ninja spoke up, taking a step forward, flipping his kunai on his finger so that it's point faced backwards. "You're not bad, Sasuke Uchiha."
"Neither are you… Kabuto Yakushi."
Naruto's eyes widened as he finally made the connection. He'd vaguely recognized the man, but finally having the name thrown out, he could remember the weird and kind of creepy dude who'd shown off his card collection back during the Chuunin Exams.
A singular question ached at the tip of his tongue, so much so that he couldn't help but ask it.
"Hey, if you were working with Orochimaru this whole time, why did that Dosu guy totally wreck your glasses?"
He'd sort of expected the guy to laugh haughtily and explain his plan, or something, but Kabuto seemed to actually get a bit upset about his question.
"I let him wreck my glasses to give myself an even better cover, obviously!" He yelled out, before trying to recover from his little outburst with a laugh. "I mean, you never once suspected me for-"
"Well, I mean, you were suspicious the entire time I was fighting you during the Second Round." Sasuke brought up, actually raising his hand as if he felt a bit bad about interjecting. "Just… just saying."
Kabuto opened his mouth to speak, probably to yell at them that it had all been a part of some master plan, but he was cut off by a hand on his shoulder. Orochimaru cut an intimidating figure, even if his other arm swung around beside him like a pendulum, clearly barely functioning.
His raw presence, however, was enough to inspire some degree of fear.
"Sasuke, and… Naruto, was it?" His voice was raspy, though it gave no indication of weakness at all. "It's good to see you both again. Especially you, Sasuke. To think you'd deliver yourself to me… How kind of you."
Sasuke shivered slightly, though it seemed more out of disgust than fear. He brought a kunai out of his bag, and up in front of him, taking a battle stance.
"I heard from some of my agents that you were able to escape Itachi's grasp. I must say, I'm even more impressed with you than I was before." Orochimaru's tongue fell out of his mouth, coming up to lick his lips in a manner that had even Naruto retching. "Your eyes… ah, the way they shine-"
"That's enough out of you, you old pedophile!"
Shizune landed beside her master, immediately speaking soothing words to the woman as she rubbed her back, and a moment later, Jiraiya stood between Naruto and Sasuke, smirking slightly. Despite the fact that his legs shook, he gave the impression of an impregnable wall.
"Oh, Jiraiya." The Snake Sannin sounded less than pleased with the new arrival. "How grand to see you."
"Heh, same to you, asshole."
Kabuto stepped to stand in front of Naruto and Sasuke, eyes narrowed as he brought his kunai towards them.
"As I was saying, the glasses he broke were actually fakes, my real pair-"
"Are you… are you actually still going on about that?" Naruto asked the man, a tad bit concerned. "I really was just joking."
Kabuto opened his mouth, presumably to shout some obscenity, but then he paused, closing his mouth, sighing, and looking back up to them with a determined expression.
"Never mind."
"Good." Sasuke said, completely deadpan. "Glad we all got that out of our systems."
"Y'know what?" The Oto ninja spoke under his breath. "I may have been ordered not to kill either of you," He smirked in an overconfident way. "But I will enjoy cutting you both down to size."
"Oo, a vague threat." Naruto pantomimed fear. "My only weakness!"
"Like, really enjoy it."
End Chapter 40
Heyo.
Not a ton to say this chapter. It's a bridge chapter, which means all the important stuff happens next week.
Though I've always been curious about that scene with Kabuto's glasses. We know from future interactions that Kabuto's glasses were given to him by his Foster Mother, so I always thought they were sort of important to him. Him just kind of... letting the sound trio destroy them always struck me as odd.
...Ah who am I kidding, we all know Kishimoto was writing half of the stuff as he went along, he probably thought up Kabuto's mom a chapter before he wrote the dude's backstory.
I get that feeling, Kishi, I get that feeling.
See you all next week!