Chapter 18
"Anything else I can help you with?" The young attendant asked with a warm smile.
"No, just the lilies thanks." The housewife replied whilst holding her newly bought flowers with care.
"You're welcome and do come again!" The blonde teenager exclaimed and waved the customer goodbye.
Once the woman had left the shop, the kunoichi stretched her arms over her head and let out a relaxing sigh. Ino looked around and saw no other customer there. Getting out from behind the counter, she briefly inspected the flowers which filled the establishment with a variety of colours. Tulips, lilies, roses, lavender and even some orchids lined up the shelves and inundated the air with their flowery scent. The girl with turquoise eyes grabbed the red watering can and proceeded to water a vase with a bunch of poppies in them.
Since her mother had decided to go order some new pots and her father was still too busy at the Intelligence Division, Ino was stuck with watching over the shop that morning. She sighed, wondering when Chouji and Asuma-sensei would be back so she could return to her normal ninja routine. The Yamanaka put the can back in its place after she was done with the white poppies and then crossed her arms over the simple apron she wore. Tough she missed being on missions, taking care of the flower shop wasn't all that bad. And since movement seemed to be slow that day, the teenager supposed she could spare some time alone with her thoughts.
Her mind inevitably focused on a subject that never ceased to bother her in the form of her handicapped friend. The Hidden Leaf kunoichi walked past the shelf with colourful tulips, wondering if she had kept true to her promise. Indeed she had tried... to the best of her abilities.
The ninja let out a frustrated sigh.
It really did not help that Sakura was as stupid as she was stubborn. But perhaps she was being too harsh with the pinkette. She was surprised that, even despite her condition, the girl had managed to not let the tragedy that had befallen her turn her into a bitter person, something that the teenage chunin even admired. Ino wondered what motivated her however. For some reason, that time when she had found the pink-haired cripple crying alone next to a park bench came to mind. Even after all these years, the Yamanaka still hadn't managed to find out what had happened that day. But she had a particular suspicion that Naruto had been somehow involved.
The kunoichi grabbed a small knife and knelt down before tending to the frail orchid below her.
She had theories and theories, but, unfortunately for her innate curiosity, they were all just that. However, if something had indeed happened between those two, it would've explained why Sakura seemed to get uncomfortable whenever she brought up her old teammate. Or why both of them seemed to treat each other as mere acquaintences despite the fact that it'd been days since his return.
After she was finished with the orchid, the teenager got up and went back to silently inspecting the rest of her flowers.
The idea of touching that subject with Naruto ocurred to her. Though something told the blonde that, if Sakura had refused to talk about it, Naruto wouldn't budge either. Ino began to question if that was even something she was supposed to get involved in the first place.
The girl shook her head, rather preferring to focus on Sakura again.
Like she had mentally stated before, her friend seemed to get along with her situation rather well. Gentle and kind, though if a bit timid, the Haruno was growing like... like...
From the corner of her turquoise eyes, Ino saw a lonely vase stand near one of the windows, as if to not call too much attention to itself. Sunlight gently bathing the inocent cherry blossom.
Sakura. Ino chuckled at the humour of the natural comparison.
Standing right in front of it, the Yamanaka inspected the pink flowers closely.
But though beautiful, Sakura's flower came with no thorns, making her too vulnerable for this world. Ino's smile suddenly disappeared from her face, a frown replacing it. The kunoichi prided herself in being able to smell a farce from a mile away, and, logically, this time wasn't any different. Of course she'd been excited when her friend told her she'd found someone. But it soon went away as it became apparent. Rather spending time doing god-knows-what instead of being with his girlfriend, never taking her out on dates, Ino wasn't even sure if he'd ever told the pinkette that he loved her. Toshiro was a sleazebag if she ever saw one. How Sakura did not see that as well?
The purple-clad ninja snorted to herself, starting to think that she wasn't entirely too harsh with her friend when it came to her stuborness and plain out foolishness.
Whatever the case, if she was ever to convince the pinkette to dump him, then she'd need something concrete, something serious enough that Sakura would just have to listen to. But how would she manage to find that?
Whichever the answer, Ino would have to think about it later as another customer entered the shop.
***XVIII***
Branches and leaves waved as the wind blew, the lush soft grass moving along its rhythm just slightly. Ebisu moved carefully whilst at the center of the small clearing. Focused on his surroundings, expecting his opponent to come from any of the trees or bushes around him. However, if the jounin had payed more attention where he was stepping, he would've noticed the thin wire hiding between the green of the grass.
His ears picked up a sharp whistle coming at his direction. With outstanding speed and reflexes, the ninja ducked, his vision barely identifying the kunai flying over his head. Within a split second of it hitting a nearby tree, a rustling of leaves came from right above him. Without even thinking, Ebisu rolled away, closely dodging the orange-clad shinobi that had tried to ambush him.
Naruto wasn't going to give his opponent the opportunity to recompose.
The teenager charged wildly at his opponent with a left hook that lead up to an uppercut from his right. Ebisu blocked both of the genin's attacks and, spotting an opportunity, counterattacked with an unexpectted low kick, catching the blond by surprise. Sensing the genin's reaction, Ebisu decided to swap their roles, himself going on the offensive. The Uzumaki struggled to defend himself against all of his sparring partner's strikes, avoiding or bracing against some of the punches that narrowly got past his defense. Just as he had managed to brush off the pain from one that hit him square on his ribs, the sunglasses-wearing ninja broke his opponent's guard confidently. Thinking quickly, Naruto jumped and tried hitting his opponent with both his feet, boosting himself off of him to try and create some distance.
As he watched the boy recompose himself, Ebisu couldn't help but be impressed by the genin's evolution from last time. Naruto was attacking much more smartly, the shinobi recalling the couple of pretty close calls he'd gotten himself into since their training session had started. The older ninja did not fail to notice that no obvious amount of chakra had been used as well.
But despite the dark-haired man's internal praise, Naruto was mentally kicking himself with frustration. He had been sucessful in getting the jump on his opponent a couple times but hadn't been able to capitalize on any of them.
This guy's taijutsu is better than mine. He begrudgingly admitted, realizing only too late that his own fighting style relied too much on overwhelming his opponent with superior numbers. As he kept analyzing the man in front of him, a single question kept tormenting him. How the hell am I supposed to beat him without my clones?
Focusing back on his fight, Naruto watched his opponent. His blue eyes carefully studying the jounin's guard, maybe some weak spot in it he could exploit, some chakra he could still draw from his limited reserves. Naruto started to sense a desperate feeling in the back of his mind as he just couldn't see any way to best his opponent in the current situation. The shinobi shook that thought out of his head. Never give up! He exclaimed mentally.
But as the blond was contemplating his next tactic, more especifically whether he should make some shadow clones or not, Ebisu decided to announce.
"You've definitely have gotten better Naruto-kun. What do you say about making this fight a little bit more..." A sinister smile formed on the man's face. "...unfair?"
After adjusting his shades with his finger, the jounin made a hand seal that was sadly all too familiar to the blond.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
Three clones materialized at each of Ebisu's sides.
The only thing the genin could think about was just how he wasn't liking this training.
***XVIII***
"I-it's good to have him back." She replied, her tone less certain than what she had hoped for.
"You didn't seem too excited to see him." His voice slightly muffled by his mask, the ninja retorted honestly as he remembered the night before.
The teenager sighed in anxiety, her hands fiddling with themselves whilst she avoided her gaze, which was pointing towards the ground next to her. Sakura was aware of this unusual reaction from her whenever she felt herself cornered into telling the truth, did Kakashi-sensei know of it as well? A light breeze blew past the relaxed jounin and the pinkette in her wheelchair, shuffling some leaves that had been gently covering the stone path.
As if not having another choice, the cripple admitted. "It's just that it feels so strange."
"How so?" The silver-haired adult asked with curiosity.
Sakura felt herself struggling to explain, not even she fully knew why she felt that way. The girl just hoped that whichever words that came from her mouth would make enough sense. "Ever since... you know..." She tried to reference without directly mentioning that night from a couple of years ago, "things have been different. It feels like such a long time ago since we were all in a team together. And he... just seems to not have changed at all. Whenever I look at him I just feel as if I'm looking at a ghost, and I just don't know how to deal with this. I'd rather..."
The Haruno stopped herself before she could finish. The he didn't return part floating in the corners of her mind like the leaves flying in the wind. Although the thought made a quiet sound inside her head like the rustling around her, it was unmistakably there nonetheless. The only one present in the abyss of the silent nothing. A moment passed. The rustling of the leaves not leaving her ears as Sakura wondered about the sort of cold-hearted bitch she must've been. To simply wish him gone despite the fact that she was the one who had acted so awfully towards him - something the girl still hadn't apologized for as her mind was quick to point out.
Sakura sometimes felt as if her sensei could read her mind. With his Sharingan, he might as well have been able to. His lack of response would surely be an appropriate answer. But then again, so too if he didn't compreheend what she had almost said. Either way, self-loathing and disgust filled her line of thought. The sound of rattling chains inside her brain, Sakura looked down to her paralyzed half. The girl couldn't help but think that her condition was well-deserved. Her skin started to feel cold, as she began to wish nothing else than to vanish.
But as if finally managing to find the correct words to say, Kakashi turned his look towards his old student.
"I know exactly what you mean."
Startled, since she had almost forgotten of his presence there, the paralyzed Haruno watched her ex-sensei get up from the smooth stone bench before she could've asked him what he'd meant by that.
"My team must be waiting for me." He simply stated, a hidden somberness in his voice. "Do you need any help getting back home?"
"No." The girl didn't stutter as she replied. "I want to stay here a little longer."
With a single nod, the shinobi shunshined out of there, leaving the young cripple with questions and regret swirling inside her brain.
***XVIII***
Naruto grunted, swiftly getting back into his defensive stance as two Ebisus charged him down. He blocked their kicks and puches with difficulty, eventually managing to slash one with a kunai that he quickly retrieved from his pouch. As one of the assailants disappeared in a cloud of smoke, the other one retreated, aware of the threat in the form of the weapon that the genin was holding.
The blond was barely holding on, his use of shadow clones earlier not having paid off. Naruto could feel the exhaustion he experienced the day before starting to creep up on his body. Dammit! He cursed mentally. I'm already out of chakra, if this fight goes any longer...
"Ready to give up?" The four Ebisus that still remained teased him in unison.
A couple of seconds passed before the younger shinobi replied with a determined look on his face.
"You must've forgotten while I was out closet-perv," Naruto began, his defensive stance as a symbol of defiance, "Naruto Uzumaki never gives up, believe it!"
Scoffing at the boy's preferred nickname for him, the jounin and his clones prepared to attack. "Then I'll come with everything I got."
"Let's go!" Naruto exclaimed before both ninja charged at each other.
But despite all his show of confidence, the Uzumaki found himself quickly surrounded, forced back into defence. After blocking a punch aimed for his face, the ninja swiftly turned around and managed to defend himself against a kick from one of the other Ebisus. But though he was determined and focused on enduring his opponent's assault, he found himself struggling. The four Ebisus didn't relent, their strikes getting faster and perfectly timed to take advantage of their superior numbers. Either that or Naruto was just getting slow due to the pill's effects.
Spotting an opportunity, the Uzumaki managed to stick one of the jounin's clones with his kunai. A nasty surprise awaited behind the cloud os smoke left behind however.
Crap! Was all that the orange-clad shinobi was able to think before the punch hit him square on his face. Naruto was sent flying back, sliding across the ground until his back made impact with a tree trunk.
Rubbing the spot on his face, Naruto watched desperately as the remaining three clones were quickly charging at him to end the fight. The genin got up, his back against the trunk as he tried to retreat. Nowhere to run.
I need chakra now...
He raised his kunai in front of him.
I need chakra now...
His eyes watched as the three Ebisus approached fast.
I need chakra now!
The three jounin about to strike him was all Naruto could see before an explosion of red chakra interrupted their fight.
***XVIII***
Moegi wiped the sweat from her brow, letting herself take another one of her little rests.
The midday sun had been particularly hot that day and was beating down on them hard. This also wasn't helped by the fact that their mission involved the physical effort of cleaning the river that cut through the village of all the rubbish. Yet, despite all the heat and hardwork, the kunoichi didn't feel as if it was all that bad, her dark eyes secretly stealing furtive glances of one of her teammates.
She watched Konohamaru-kun struggle with reaching for a plastic bottle running down along the current whilst muttering something about not having graduated from the academy so he could become some glorified street cleaner angrily. The young girl contained a giggle, her friend's complaining becoming a reocurring part of the ambient noise. She preferred seeing him with his usual smirk, though his frown made her equally jittery. Moegi felt her rosy cheeks get even rosier. The kunoichi bashfully went back to her work, worried that someone might've catched her looking at Konohamaru-kun like an idiot again.
The orange-haired ninja managed to catch a cardboard box with her little net and take it out of the water.
Honestly, what do these people think this river is for? She mentally complained at the village's lack of respect for the environment.
After a couple of moments of trying to take more rubbish out of the flowing river, Moegi's ears noticed something strange. Konohamaru-kun had stopped complaining. She wondered if she should risk looking at him again to see if everything was okay. But before she could come to a decision, she heard him whisper right next to her ear.
"Oi, Moegi."
The girl jumped, startled by his sudden presence right next to her.
"Y-yeah Konohamaru-kun?" She replied, trying to regain some composure whilst noticing that Udon was there with them too with his usual droopy face, the physical labour not really agreeing with him.
The Sarutobi looked both ways and indicated for his friends to come closer, to which both promptly obeyed. Speaking in a low volume as if to not be heard by anyone else other than his teammates, the young boy suggested. "I think we should get out of here."
"Get out? But... we're still on a mission." Moegi told him, feeling a bit insecure.
"Y-yeah, Kakashi-sensei would never let us leave before finishing with the river." She heard Udon add in, probably just as afraid of the consequences as she was.
"Pah, you call this dumb job a mission?" The boy scoffed, clearly not thrilled with their amazing D-rank task. "Besides, look at that guy. He's not even awake." He added, pointing at their sensei resting beneath the tree's shade.
Moegi looked over and squinted her eyes. Sure enough, the silver-haired man seemed to be sleeping peacefully, that weird orange book he always seemed to carry around laying on his abdomen, rising and falling along with his own breathing.
"I was thinking that we could maybe sneak away and grab a snack at Makuro's." Her eyebrows raised as she heard the boy with the blue scarf suggest.
As the idea of spending the day with Konohamaru-kun ran inside her head, a concerned Udon tried to protest. "I-I'm not sure about this one Konohamaru, we might get into troubl-"
"I'll come with you!" The young girl interrupted eagerly. She felt herself blushing hard as both boys looked at her in response to her weird and sudden outburst. "U-uuuhm I mean... I don't wanna stay under this sun anymore either." The Kazamatsuri tried to disguise.
Ignoring his friend's strange behaviour, Konohomaru turned to his other teammate, still trying to convince him. "See? Even Moegi agrees with me, don't be such a pansy Udon."
The rosy-cheeked ninja looked over to her friend as if to tell him: you don't have to come Udon, you really don't have to come.
The young genin adjusted his big round glasses, feeling the pressure of his teammate. "I-I don't know Konoha-"
"I heard Makuro's also got the latest Samurai Hagane manga in his shop too." The Sarutobi mentioned.
A moment of silence passed with a hopeful Moegi looking forward to having Konohamaru-kun all to herself that afternoon.
"Okay, fine." Udon relented.
Dammit. The kunoichi cursed mentally.
"Alright, we first get back and pretend to be cleaning." Moegi heard him say. "I'll take a look if he's really sleeping. If he is, then we are out of here."
"And what if he isn't?" Behind him, a fourth curious voice joined in.
"Well if he isn't, than we-" Konohamaru stopped himself as if finally taking notice of the mortified expressions on his teammates' faces.
The genin slowly turned and saw his sensei hearing them with interest. Konohomaru began to sweat, Moegi gulped and Udon covered his eyes in antecipation.
"You didn't honestly think I wasn't watching you guys the whole time, did you?" Moegi felt herself shaking in fear. Their sensei's tone came out in a way that made it really hard to distinguish whether he was trying to be calm or menacing. The mask that covered half of his expression wasn't much help either. The young girl feared that he would send them back to the academy for that or worse. She definetly feared the "worse" much more than being sent back though.
"Ermmm, I... we... uhmm." She watched Konohamaru-kun having trouble coming up with an excuse. The kunoichi gulped again. Though she really admired him, whenever Konohamaru felt himself getting cornered, he tended to make the situation worse. "You know what? This isn't fair."
Oh no, it's happening.
"Huh? What isn't fair?" Their sensei replied, confused.
"We are real ninja, okay? We should be going on actual missions instead of doing these crappy errands!" The genin exclaimed.
"Crappy errands?" Kakashi repeated. The Kazamatsuri still wasn't sure if their sensei was actually angry or not by his tone.
"Picking up trash from the river? Delivering mail? Running after cats? Standing in for a waiter?"He repeated the missions that had been assigned to them since the silver-haired jounin had taken over. "A true shinobi should be given more meaningful tasks."
Well... I thought that recovering Momori was fun. Moegi said her opinion mentally but deciding not to voice it.
"A true shinobi puts all of his effort to every mission that is given to him. Doesn't matter if it's a D-rank mission or even an S-rank mission." She heard the jounin retort. The kunoichi felt scared by the sudden change of their sensei's tone. "This sort of attittude only shows that you're still not ready for more dangerous tasks."
"Then train us!" Moegi turned her look towards her teammate once again. "We are never gonna get there if you treat us as if we're just a bunch of schmucks!"
There was a moment of silence between the jounin and the rest of the genin. The young kunoichi tried to spy Udon's reaction, managing to catch a frightened expression that she likely had on her face too.
Moegi turned back towards the silver haired-man who had his hand on his hips and looked down at the defiant Konohamaru.
The petite 'schmuck' gulped.
We're so dead.
"Training, huh?" She heard the veteran ninja finally say. "I guess that if you are all so eager to get stronger, I suppose that we could do some training together. We're starting tomorrow outside the village."
The orange-haired child felt relief if not some surprise. Oh, so we're just going to train in our day free? That's not so ba-
"Meet me at the gates at 4 AM tomorrow." The slender Hatake told them, the girl's sense of amusement not as present this time. As if to dismiss any sort of thoughts about non-compliance, their sensei finished before walking away. "Oh, and you best be on time."
A couple of seconds after he was gone, Konohamaru turned towards them with a nervous laughter and scratching the back of his head.
"Well heheh, I guess that could've been wor-"
The spiky-haired boy interrupted himself as Moegi watched her other teammate send him a glare that subtly said I'm going to murder you if you keep talking.
***XVIII***
Ebisu tried to shake the dizziness from his head. His clones long dispelled by the outburst. His rear on the grass as he watched the smoke clear from where Naruto had been. Behind his dark shades, his eyes widened as he saw a thin layer of red chakra that enveloped the boy.
Is that the...?
Naruto slowly regained the control over his own breathing and, as he did, so too the red chakra began to dissipate away. After he was apparently 'back to normal', the elite jounin watched the younger shinobi slowly walk up to him.
The teenager then stopped as he got right in front of his opponent.
Remembering that they were tecnhically still sparring, Ebisu instinctively brought his arm to protect himself. Surprisingly instead, the genin only extended his hand in response. Ebisu felt a smile slowly materialize on the corner of his lips and lowered his guard. After adjusting his sunglasses, the veteran accepted the blond's help.
"So I guess the first part of your training is over then." He casually said.
"No."
Ebisu raised his eyebrows at the teenager's response.
"I still haven't defeated you." The boy explained.
The jounin chuckled before replying. "Don't be so modest Naruto-kun, you definetly had me there-"
"No you don't get it." Naruto interrupted his sparring partner. "I didn't defeat you."
The jounin expressed confusion to which the young shinobi only sighed in response.
"Someone else interfered in our fight, so I think we should just call it for today." There was a pause as the teen scratched his chin in deep thought. "Maybe we could pick up where we left after this weekend?"
Ebisu believed that he silently understood what the boy had meant. Shrugging at the youngster's suggestion, he replied. "Whatever you say."
Naruto nodded with a smile before walking away from there.
Deep down, the Uzumaki couldn't help but remember the fake smile he'd given a certain girl the other day.
***XVIII***
His messy blond hair still a bit wet from the shower he'd just taken, Naruto was relaxing on the comfortable matress of his bed. He was careful whilst scooping out the last bit of noodles of his instant ramen. The faint artificial flavour of barbecue that still lingered in his mouth was enjoyable, and so was the stuffed feeling in his stomach. Yet despite all that, the teenager strangely found himself wanting some sweets after his cheap dinner.
Naruto immediately shook his head in response, as if warning himself to not even think about going there.
Blowing on the still hot broth that remained inside the cup, the ninja decided to change the subject. Finding some sucess in his endeavour, his thoughts eventually managed to focus on his sparring session. There was a small surge of anger that ran across his veins at the thought of the undesired intervention which ended his training abruptly, though it was doubt what prevailed in the end.
Just why the godamn fox had decided to pick that exact time to disturb him? Was it something related to that pill? Or was it just to piss him off?
Feeling the hot flavourful broth running down his throat and then putting the empty cup aside after having finished it, the blond teenager decided to find those answers for himself.
Naruto got up into a sitting position. Crossing his legs and relaxing his shoulders, the jinchuuriki began to meditate. After he closed his eyes, he exhaled. Pulling the warm and cozy air of his bedroom into his lungs only to exhale it again. The young ninja repeated the process, growing increasingly irritated by his unsucessful attempts to transport himself to the depths of his inner self. It felt hard to concentrate, even more so when accounting for the things that seemed hellbent on tormenting him that night. The noises from inside and outside his apartment joined in his meditation, as if a thousand different voices inside his head kept him from achieving what he wanted. What were seconds, turned into what felt like hours. Naruto was lost, not able to keep track of time with his eyes shut. Perhaps he had lost his touch, but then again, it had been a while since he last attempted a conversation with the demon which resided inside of him.
Naruto silently started to accept that he woudn't be sucessful that night. But just as he was ready to give up, he noticed a change in the air. There was a certain... dampness to it. He sensed it in his skin as well. Instead of the warmth of his small bedroom, Naruto felt the cold of a great empty space. His ears picked up the echo of a single water drop, as if resonating with the overbearing feeling of isolation present in his soul.
Even though his eyes were still closed, no doubt remained in his head.
He had arrived.
As he opened them, his vision confirmed what he already knew.
Naruto found himself standing in the middle of a large hallway. It was dark, the only light coming from the other end behind him, barely enough to show him the way whilst shadows devoured the ceiling above. Beneath him, the entirety of the floor seemed to be submerged under some sort of giant puddle. Another droplet could be heard from the distance.
The whole place resembled some sort of sewer. An ominous and infinite sewer.
Naruto was not scared.
There was a soft splash of water as he began going forward. Though he was still on his pajamas down there, the fact that he was barefoot and virtually getting his feet wet did not bother him.
Walking down the great and dark hallway for some minutes, he eventually found the large cell gate that he'd been looking for. That thing couldn't have been more than some twenty meters wide, though its height seemed to reach all the way up to the black void that was supposed to be the ceiling. As to the actual gate of the strange prison, the beams made out of brass that composed it seemed more like thin metallic pillars from Naruto's point of view. A thick section where both doors came together and an old seal kept them shut.
Finally, he stopped right in front of it, his blue eyes revealing nothing but the vast darkness that stretched seemingly forever beyond the obstacle. It was as if the very light behind him dared not venture too far off past the safety of the tall brass pillars. In contrast to the rest of the place, Naruto felt a hot breeze blowing past him in what seemed like waves.
In an annoyed but deep tone, the boy decided to speak.
"Cut this crap, I know that you're awake."
In response to his voice, two large eyes opened. The light that reflected off of them gave them an ominous look, like there was a pair of giant murderous orbs staring directly at the young teenager. Its evil aspect was only made worse by the piercing crimson colour of its pupils.
But as if to further show that he wasn't afraid, Naruto leaned his back against the thick section of the gate.
"My, my. Look who came all this way just to visit..." A much deeper voice replied, its intense sound echoing all across the hallway like a silent earthquake.
Few would have enough courage to stay there after hearing the creature speak. Even fewer would have enough courage to provoke it like Naruto did. "You've been lonely lately? Is that you why you felt the need to bother me earlier?"
Surprisingly, the demon to whom those big crimson eyes belonged did not seem to take much offense. The tailed beast let out a dry laugh (if one could call the deep guttural sounds it made with its throat that) in its amusement.
"Not having company can get boring, but I would never stoop that low kid."
"Then why did you interrupt me?" The shinobi asked again, this time more impatiently.
"Why?" It asked in, what sounded like, surprise. "You should know that answer better than anyone. After all, it was you who called me."
"The hell you're talking about now? I didn't call you." Naruto retorted, oblivious to anything of the sort that the creature was implying.
"No, you did." The demon disagreed and proceeded to provoke him. "Who else were you talking to when you ran out of chakra and cried out for help like a lost cub calls for its mother, huh?"
There was nothing but silence from the teenager, as if his capability of coming up with any sort of witty reply vanished all at once.
"Exactly." The creature continued calmly. "You know, watching your ass getting handed down to you isn't as entertaining as you might think kid."
Naruto considered for a second. It was clear to him now the game that the fox demon was trying to play. Whoever let the other get under their skin first lost. Determined not to lose, he simply answered. "You don't look too upset to me."
"Upset? Why would I, the nine-tailed demon, the strongest of all bijuus, the most powerful creature in the world feel upset for being iprisoned inside such a pathetic and insignificant creature like you?" It retorted, showing that its kind was capable of irony.
The boy crossed his arms and scoffed at the way that the tailed beast apparently had for describing humans. "Hmph, I ain't as weak as you think."
As if ignoring the 'patethic' creature's disagreement, the kyuubi continued. "Why bother with this stupid training when you have all the power in the world at your disposal? Just let me out and no one will stand in our way."
"Is that your plan to convince me to remove the seal? Nice try." Naruto replied, not minimally impressed by the beast's attempt to fool him.
"Don't tell me that old perverted frog has scared you off."
Naruto recalled a particular day where he had momentarily lost control over himself and seriously hurt his master. The warning that had followed about the importance of not losing control over the monster that was taunting him replayed inside his head, followed by the image of the people he had sworn to protect.
"I don't need ero-sennin to tell that letting you out is a bad idea. I'll never let you hurt my friends, so just forget it!"
There was a change in the way the creature looked at the shinobi. The big orbs suddenly carried a sort of arrogance with them, as if satisfied by their imminent triumph.
"Your weakness already does that much better than I ever could."
The boy felt himself going tense over its statement, his grip closing tighter and tighter until red marks started to appear on the skin right above his elbows. Naruto tried his best to hide it, knowing that the tailed demon was capable of sensing any small change in his composure.
Attempting to feign ignorance, the Uzumaki responded. "What are you talking about now?"
"Stop playing the fool, kid." The fox replied impatiently to the boy, only to then slowly and calmly proceed. "You know what I mean. You know it so deeply that you can feel it in your bones. It is the thing that keeps you awake at night, the thing that keeps bringing you back to me."
That dry laugh echoed once again, all throughout the large hallway and even inside the ninja's head. This time there was a much more evil and sadistic aspect to it, as if to cruelly mock the blond teenager. The creature got closer to the gate, its reverbarating voice wishing to whisper on the small human's ear, part of its dark muzzle and its big sharp teeth made visible by the faint light.
"That it was through your weakness that you've failed your friends."
"Shut up." The boy muttered silently, tired of the game.
"That it was through your weakness that you've failed to rescue him."
"Shut up." He closed his eyes, a hint of anger in his tone.
"That it was through your weakness that you've failed to protect her."
"SHUT UP!"
***XVIII***
Naruto was brought back to his room to the sound of something breaking next to him. Slowly, he turned his head to his right and realized that, in his anger with the kyuubi, he had brought down his fist on the poor nightstand that stood next to his bed. Amidst his heavy breathing, the blond cleaned the sweat from his brow with his arm. The Uzumaki slowly began to realize why he didn't hold converstions with the creature inside him too often. But thankfully, the solitude of his apartment seemingly helped him cool his nerves.
Regaining control over his breathing, the ninja decided to have a cup of water to calm down.
"Ouch!" He let out in pain when his right foot touched the floor. The boy inspected its bottom and noticed a small shard of glass stuck in his flesh.
His mind suddenly remembered the noise that had pulled him out of his meditation.
He quickly got rid of the small shard of glass, a bit of blood coming out of the small cut. Searching, his cerulean orbs noticed a small wooden frame lying face down on the floor.
"No..." He let escape from his mouth.
Carefully picking it up, the boy brought the portrait of his team in front of him. Analyzing the damage he'd done to the old memento, he noticed that the glass had broken in several places. Only his and Sakura's faces had remained unscathed, though they were both kept apart by the largest crack on the frame. Although he was alone, Naruto fought the tears forming in his eyes with as much determination which he had displayed in his training session.
He swore he would find a way to fix it.
***XVIII***
A/n: again, I'm still struggling to find the time to dedicate myself to update the story. Here's a little something so you guys don't have to wait too long.
I've seen other authors use bold letters for dialogues with characters such as the kyuubi. I personally like it because it really emphasizes the eldritch/massive/powerful aspect of the character. It makes it "sound" different and special. What do you think?
As always, thanks for your reading and support.
Keep safe.
EconomicalBorrowing