"Hmph, what you always do is get in the way."
"Wha ―! Sasuke, you―!" Naruto gasped in naked awe. Their enemy was on the ground; surely Sasuke must be ―
"What's with that face? Usuratonkachi...?"
No.
Eyes widening, Naruto felt his hands shaking at the sight of Sasuke before him, standing there covered in ice needles. It didn't take long for Naruto to realize what this meant.
"Why?" It was obvious, so obvious that Sasuke shielded him from the enemy's attack.
Sasuke saved him. Him, who was everything Sasuke was not.
With an empty smirk, Sasuke uttered, "I hated you."
If so, then ― ｗｈｙ ?
"But ― but, why dattebayo?" Naruto didn't think, he screamed with all his might. He just couldn't understand. "Why me?! I never asked for your help!"
"How shoud I know." Sasuke chuckled, eyes staring off into nothing. "My body just moved on its own, idiot."
And then Sasuke fell backwards, and Naruto was only able to catch him solely on instinct.
Holding Sasuke close to him, Naruto let his eyes roam, inspecting Sasuke's state. There was just too many ice needles on his body that there was no way Sasuke was able to survive this.
"That man, my brother, I... I told myself I wouldn't die until I kill him," Sasuke told, as Naruto closely cradled his head. "Don't die, got it..."
Shell-shocked, Naruto saw Sasuke's eyes gradually go blank.
Tears in each of his eye, Naruto paid full of his attention to Sasuke, carefully tracing every feature of his face. It was so wrong to see those eyes so empty, that face so expressionless and yet... somehow, it felt nostalgic, like he had seen it before.
For Naruto, it was the way Sasuke protected him that triggered something deep (something with the way the Uchiha crest on the back of Sasuke's blue high-collared shirt was in a full-display) within his subconscious mind awake.
... You know? Madara likes to make excuses and he can't...
... Did you know that Nii-san hates it when...
For a moment, the horrific sight in front of him was forgotten. Tears drying up in each corner of his eyes, Naruto shook his head.
Looking around, he found no one other than the now fallen Sasuke and the masked enemy.
Where are the voices coming from? he wondered. And then he felt it. He heard it.
It came from his mind.
Sounds. Strings. There were sounds and strings, or something resembling chains, inside his mind.
In his anger and dark sorrow, he pulled at the chains inside his mind, as he still held on to Sasuke and his eyes still on that red and white Uchiha crest.
Uchiha.
At first, Naruto thought it was the shock, remorse, and horror at witnessing his teammate threw his life away for him that made him find the strings, but no.
It's not that.
A fleeting thought that it was the Kyūbi that made him imagine the strings.
No, it's not the Kyūbi, a voice provided an answer to him. No, it's not Kurama,and another voice followed soon behind. The two distant voices that were familiar to him, yet not, echoed in his mind.
They were ―
The name's Hashirama. But I can't tell you my last name.
My name is Ashura and this is my brother, Indra.
It was all confusing for Naruto. And then, the voices grew louder.
Madara!
Listen to me, Nii-san!
Don't make me kill you...!
Please! Don't do this to our ― !
I consider you my brother !
You're my brother!
The thundering voices, they were driving him crazy. They made him unfocused. They made him lose sight of what was important.
They made him forget about Sasuke.
Naruto gasped for air and he forced himself to stay lucid, his mind desperately trying to silent the voices.
The strings was the source. He forcefully cut the strings and then his mind went quiet. Finally.
"Sasuke!" he screamed out. All of it was just in a flash, in mere seconds.
Uzumaki Naruto wasn't Senju Hashirama or Ōtsutsuki Ashura.
Something fragile inside his mind trashed and crashed.
Nevertheless, he was them. He was the younger brother of Ōtsutsuki Indra and the sworn friend of Uchiha Madara.
But now, he was Uchiha Sasuke's teammate, Sasuke and him were comrades, and... friends (he and Sasuke didn't get along simply because he was a loud, bratty kid and Sasuke was ignoring everything and everyone because he didn't want attachments and ― screw that, he had to fix their relationship because Sasuke, Sasuke wasn't dying, he wasn't fooled).
His eyes snapped open (since when did he close them?), and he balled his fists.
"You," Naruto gritted out with grim loathing, eyes as blue as the stormy sky as he glared at the masked enemy, at the one who threw those ice senbon at him, at the one who made Sasuke fall like a rag doll. Unforgivable.
The enemy, who was still crouching down on the ground, spoke softly, "He landed a blow on me. And without any hesitation, he died to protect you."
Anger bubbled up at those words, Naruto tried his best to ignore the enemy. He sat still, as he wished, or wanted, the masked enemy to just shut up.
"To protect someone dear to him, he jumped right in, knowing he walked into a trap. As such, he was a shinobi worthy of great respect," the enemy continued. "Is this your first time witnessing one of your loved ones die? This is how the shinobi world works―"
"Shut up," Naruto growled, unable to ignore the chaos in his eerily silent mind any longer. He left Sasuke gently on the floor. I hated you too 'ttebayo.
With a roar, Naruto charged forward with one word on his mind;
Mokuton!