The reviews have been wonderful, especially the comprehensive ones. They
help me out greatly. Therefore, with all your encouraging words, I have
pounded out yet another chapter. I hope you enjoy.
Warning: Blood, Violence, Bad Bad Words, MORE Violence
Disclaimer: Not own Naruto. That's right, I said it.
A Demon's Face
"Kakashi, you should have gotten us earlier!"
The silver haired man ignored Kurenai's slightly trembling statement as he made a lengthy jump from the tree branch. When he had found Kurenai and Asuma earlier drinking tea and settling in for the night shift, they had shrugged nonchalantly at his concerns and had only come after deciding that it would do some good to get exercise. Then as they jumped branch to branch towards the direction Kakashi felt the most wrongness, they had felt it as well, and now, mere half an hour after this pursuit began, all three were uneasy and nervous.
The smell, as Kakashi had termed it, grew in strength the more they moved westward towards the site of their old camp grounds, the scent of danger intensifying with every step. Asuma bit down on his unlit cigarette hard, nearly severing the butt in half, as he pondered the situation at hand. This ugly feeling had not existed during the battle four days ago, he would have noticed it then with his heightened battle senses, but it was related, he knew it. Something in his gut told him that the real reason for the attack lay behind this dangerous crackling in the air and that it certainly related back to the missing ninjas of the battalion.
Only if he knew how it all connected, then he would not be feeling like he was walking blind into a cave full of traps.
"We're getting closer," Kakashi announced, breaking Asuma's revelry, "let's step it a bit, shall we?"
The three commanders of the 121 became faster than the wind, their forms blurring into the woods and the night enveloping them. Something was happening, and they would be damned if they missed it.
--
Sakura opened her eyes despite all her neurons telling her that it was not a good idea. She agreed when pain violently wracked her head as soon as the weak moonlight hit her pupils. Groaning softly, Sakura squinted to focus her eyes, but the world was a blur of dark colors.
"Sasuke?"
Good gracious, was that her voice that sounded like sandpaper over a chalkboard? What had happened? Slowly, her memories presented her with visual images and aural sensations, all of it culminating in a vicious hit that made her see stars, then nothing at all.
'Oh, yeah,' her sluggish thoughts said, 'I was knocked out.'
Her eyes had yet to focus on anything, but her ears made out distinct sounds ahead of her. She heard clink of metal bouncing off each other, the sickening soft thuds of landed hits on soft spots of a body, and the occasional suppressed gurgle of pain. Overlaying all these sounds of a furious fight was a constant mocking laughter, the one that had sent shivers down her spine before the world went blankly dark.
Ah, yes, how could she forget, even in her state of confused semi- consciousness, that a man named Itachi had been hunting them?
'Oh gods,' came the unbidden thought, 'is that..'
Ignoring the pain, Sakura opened her eyes and forced them to adjust to the night and the light. Eventually, she saw shapes form into bodies and shadows transmute into faces.
Sasuke and Naruto were fighting against one man. And they were losing badly.
Naruto had long ago abandoned everything Kakashi had taught him about taijutsu, his limbs having numbed from the pain. It was all he could do to dodge the mockingly nonchalant hits dealt out by Itachi, let alone launch an effective counterstrike. He moved only on instinct, letting his body react before his mind could process the results, swaying like a windblown willow, keeping his balance only by sheer power of his will. Out of the corner of his swollen right eye, he could see Sasuke fighting just as hard as he, and just as desperate. The dark haired genius' eyes flickered from dark to red, the chakra required to maintain the Sharingan having depleted some time ago. Still, determination etched every weary and achy line of his face.
Sakura lied still on the ground, watching Sasuke and Naruto as they fought Itachi who did not even have to move in order to avoid their attacks and jutsus. She saw that with every move Naruto made, a fresh stream of blood from some wound would snake out into the air, dully reflecting the cold moonlight before it splattered onto the already soaking ground. She winced when Sasuke kicked and was brutally blocked, hearing that awful crunch that signified a major bone break.
'I have to help. I have to help.' The mantra ran in her head over and over, but she could not force her body to move in order to carry out that mission. Her arms shook every time she even thought about moving them, her legs gave out before she could put weight on them. It was as if her body was telling her to stay down, stay out and pretend just to be dead.
Sound of branches snapping made her turn her head, her eyes taking in the sight of Sasuke as he sailed through the air along with the tree parts that got taken out by his body. Her green eyes widened and filled with tears and panic when Sasuke landed on his back, air forced out of his lungs along with a smattering of blood. Slowly, painfully, on shaking hands and knees that threatened to crumble, she crawled towards his prone form, trying hard not to draw any attention to herself. If Sasuke had been dispatched so easily, she stood no chance and it would do no one any good if she got killed by being careless.
The nearer she got to his body, the clearer she could make out the numerous injuries that he had sustained. He still coughed blood, every choking wheeze bringing a fresh supply of the life liquid pouring out of his mouth, and the way he breathed, that wet, gurgling sound, told her that he had a punctured lung. He was covered in blood, she had no idea a human being could lose so much of it and still live, but thank the gods, he was alive. Labored breathing, the twitching fingers in the earth, they all told her that even if he was so wounded that his eyes glazed over in incomprehension, he was still alive.
Carefully, mindful of the injuries, Sakura cleared the dark hair away from his handsome face and cradled his head into her lap. She could not be sure if Itachi could see her trying to help Sasuke, but since she had not been attacked, she assumed safety. What was that Kakashi had taught her about medical treatment? She recalled his lectures, the techniques that he had shown her, how he had explained the use of chakra in order to heal. She had never done it before, but she knew the theories by heart. If she wanted to help Sasuke, she would have to do this. So far, all she had done was watch him as he fought in her stead, protected her from every threat. In the least, she could heal some of his injuries and bring him some comfort.
Closing her eyes, Sakura centered herself and formed her chakra, her head a calm space of Kakashi's voice intoning everything she needed to do in order to heal someone. The sounds of the still on-going fight faded from her ears, the feel of death and blood receded and soon, only the feel of her chakra flowing out of her and into Sasuke remained. She no longer cared that her own face throbbed or that her head hurt, because in the center of her being was Sasuke, slowly regaining his consciousness as she poured herself into him.
A muffled groan snapped her out of her revelries and reality crashed back into her harshly. The vague twinge she had distantly identified as a headache became a full grown monster of a migraine, pounding into her skull in cadence to the dancing spots of light in her eyes. The strength she had left had been spent in order to bring Sasuke back, and it was all she could do not to fall onto the boy face first.
"Sasuke," she whispered, her heart hammering in her chest, "are you okay?"
For a short moment, there was nothing but Sasuke climbing back into the conscious world, his breathing harsh but no longer watery. When his eyes opened, Sakura's breath left her in a swift exhale; his eyes, the color of the darkest night, looked up at her with a fierce conviction.
"What.." Sasuke began, unsure of where he was, "what the hell happened? Is it over?"
Before Sakura could answer, a short scream echoed in the air followed by a heavy sound of a body being driven into the earth. In unison, Sakura and Sasuke turned their heads to see Naruto, face down on the ground with Itachi's right foot grinding him ever deeper into the rocky soil. Naruto's fingers gripped the earth, the loose dirt sifting through the digits, as he tried to get up, only to be thwarted by the powerful man standing on him.
"Are you recovered, brother dear?"
Cursing silently, Sasuke shook off Sakura's restraining hands and rolled over onto his stomach, his eyes flickering back into the red of the Sharingan. He could feel his chakra draining as he did, having used too much in this impossible fight against Itachi, but he would not leave Naruto to fight alone. He had left him alone for too long already it seemed, picking up his slack while he had passed out.
"Not quite a hundred percent, I see." Itachi threw his head back and let out an echoing laugh, his left hand idly flipping a kunai into the air. "Your friend here, I admire his fire. He's quite interesting."
Growling, Sasuke gathered his legs, forcing strength he did not have into them. He had to stand, damn it. This fight was supposed to be his and his alone, the goal of his life, the reason that he joined the Special Academy, the wherefore of his training. Naruto should not even be there, moaning under the grinding heel of his murderous brother. If anything, that should be him.
"Let go of him." Sasuke rose onto his knees, his eyes never leaving the form of his brother, and his hands began forming a jutsu. His vision narrowed to a pinpoint, only seeing Naruto struggling and Itachi laughing, as he formed the final seals and gathered his chakra. He would save Naruto, get them out of here away from his brother. As much as the idiot had boasted, there was no way to beat Itachi here and now, but if they could just get away.. if they could just survive.. then there would be another chance to face his brother.
A burst of flames and smoke flew towards Itachi, illuminating the night with a ruddy color as it traveled faster than Sakura's eyes could track. The ground around Itachi exploded and blazed when the fire jutsu hit, throwing Sasuke and Sakura back with the force created from the explosion.
Dust was still settling when Sasuke hastily raised his head to look for any signs of his brother. Smoke obscured his Sharingan vision, but he stared out into the smoking crater. He had to have some kind of damage to Itachi with that, it was the most powerful jutsu he knew. However, his hope was dashed rather quickly when a figure without a scratch on him stepped through the swirling mist of dirt and smoke to throw a limp body at him.
"You almost toasted your friend, Sasuke." Itachi mused as Sasuke scrambled to Naruto's side. "You must hate me more than I thought if you would sacrifice your friend to hurt me."
"I did not sacrifice him," Sasuke replied angrily. Even so, his hands skimmed over Naruto's unconscious and singed form to check for injuries he might have inflicted. When he concluded that all of Naruto's injuries were from Itachi and not from him, relief at not hurting his friend washed over him. Yet, close behind the relief was a roiling emotion he could not define, boiling hot and steady, ready to rip out of his pores. It reflected in his eyes that could no longer hold the Sharingan, turning the glossy black into a pair of lightless pits.
"I do hate you." Sasuke picked up Naruto, his arms almost breaking at the added dead weight, and somehow stood. Without looking away from his grinning brother, Sasuke deposited Naruto on the ground as far away from Itachi he could get without losing sight of him. "I am an avenger. Hatred for you is what keeps me going. Killing you is my goal." His voice went dead, belying the raging fire that burned in his body. "You cannot be forgiven."
Sasuke touched the blonde boy gently across his scarred cheek, his eyes lingering on the slack and bloody face for a second, before he limped towards Itachi. He could not win against him, oh he knew that quite well, especially alone. But Naruto should not have been involved in the first place; this fight was between them, the last two remainders of the Uchiha clan. He stopped only once on his approach towards Itachi, when a hand grasped him by his bad ankle, the grip so light and hesitant that it could have been the wind.
"Sakura," Sasuke monotoned, "let go."
"This is crazy, Sasuke," he heard her moan, her voice shaking and wet, "let's just get away from here."
"I thought that we could. I thought that if we distracted him enough, we could run and fight another day." Sasuke shook off Sakura's hand and continued his short trek towards the figure waiting so patiently for him. "But he won't let me."
Finally, he stood before his brother, his right arm out and his left arm held slightly above his waist, the stance for his most favored taijutsu. He had no chakra left, practically no strength left, and his mind blurred with exhaustion and pain. Still, he had to fight.
"Take care of Naruto, Sakura."
Burying the crushing jolt of pain that ran up his frame, Sasuke attacked.
--
The first thing Naruto saw when he opened his eyes was Sakura crouched on the ground next to him, her head buried in her hands. He heard the hiccoughing noise that emerged from her hidden face, and it took him a bit to figure out that she was crying.
'What the hell?' That thought was quickly followed by a wellspring of panic. 'Sasuke!'
He tried, he really did, to get up, to stand, to even fucking crawl, but nothing responded. His arms remained at his side, his legs refused his commands and even his head could not swivel. Of all times to be paralyzed..
'Sakura. Sakura, please. Please look at me and tell me what the hell is going on.' The words swam in his head, but he could not voice them. And despite all his pleadings that echoed in the vault of his mind, Sakura continued to cry into her hands, and he could only gauge that the situation was truly bad if that was her reaction.
'Sasuke can't be dead, because..' He paused in his ramblings, not quite knowing why he had such monumental faith in Sasuke and his abilities. Since when had he admired his rival so much that he could not even fathom the dark haired boy failing in anything, even believing that he could win this fight against Itachi?
'Think later. Move now.'
Sakura's sobbing grew distant from his mind as he concentrated on nudging his unresponsive limbs to action. When Sasuke had been knocked out, he had barely managed to keep Itachi busy enough so that he would not go after his rival. He had endured everything that came at him, thrown everything he had at the damned sinister ninja, but even so, it had not been enough. Now, he could hear Sasuke putting up a fight, most likely trying harder than he had since this seemed to be a personal matter for the boy, but he knew it could not last. Granted, he admitted, Sasuke was a better ninja than him by far, but even when the two of them had been fighting together, the odds had been very much against them. Therefore, as he lay here like a lump of dirt, Sasuke was getting his ass handed back to him.
'I can't feel my legs.' His eyes squeezed shut, his lips formed into a snarl. 'I can't feel any chakra in me. Damn it, heal faster!'
"Is this all you can do?" The blonde heard Itachi sing, his voice carrying like feathers in the wind, "is this all you have, Sasuke?"
'Sasuke, keep fighting!' Naruto silently screamed as he dug deeper in himself to find the strength. 'Keep fighting. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be..'
Somewhere in this body, there had to be something left, anything. Something had to be there, something he could grab on to, whether it be the last vestiges of his will to survive or the final burst of strength one gets when there is a dire emergency.
'Find it, damn it, and get the fuck up.'
He struggled to find the power to stand, retreating further and further into himself, and the sounds of Sasuke's battle merged with the roaring of blood and frustration in his head. It created an incomprehensible noise that sent his mind spiraling, the sightless vertigo stifling his mind like a coffin. Soon, everything became darker than the deepest of moonless nights, his mind cutting ties with reality and sinking into this disturbing new shadow. Dimly, Naruto realized that he was lost in his own mind, drowning in his quest to find the power that he needed to help Sasuke, to help himself.
'Well, this is fucking rich. Sasuke's so going to laugh at me after this.' The thought drifted and sank, Naruto following in its wake. 'I sure do know how to make a situation worse.' If he had a form here in his mind, he might have laughed. Well, he certainly was fucked now, wasn't he.
He might have drifted forever in his mind laughing at himself if it weren't for a shaft of crimson light that suddenly snared him in its ethereal grip. It pulled at him, tugging him, until he had to acknowledge it. As soon as he did, a powerful voice broke through the shade of his mind to show him the way.
'Deeper, go deeper,' the voice rang, palpable power undulating within it with every syllable, 'go past the darkness, past the person that is Uzumaki Naruto.'
Naruto reached out and felt razor hot inferno sear his mind.
'Deeper. Deeper.' The voice commanded, and he followed without regards to the burning that surrounded his inner mind. 'Come to me.'
The white hot conflagration that surrounded him licked at the edges of his being, scorching the bits and pieces that made him Uzumaki Naruto, seeping into his pores only to burst back out. It hurt, dear lord, did it ever hurt, but Naruto continued towards the voice, ignoring that small voice that told him to run.
'Closer. Closer.'
The fire consumed him, and from the ashes rose a demonic visage, teeth snapping and grinning terribly.
--
It had to be too soon for sunrise, but Sasuke's pain confused mind could only think that the red glowing light emanating at the corner of his eyes had to be the sun rising. The light broke the darkness in half, illuminating the trees and the grass in crimson, coloring his brother's madly grinning face in blood and fire. Wearily standing a scant foot away from his brother, Sasuke risked turning his eyes away to the source of this new light and saw Naruto in the middle of it, shining and glowing like a backlit ruby.
"Well, there's something interesting."
The excitement trembling in Itachi's voice startled Sasuke, the sudden surprise enough to make him lose concentration needed to stay upright. His legs gave and he fell heavily onto the ground on his side, his eyes still on the shining Naruto.
"And I was beginning to think this was a waste of my time." Itachi purred, the words grating on Sasuke's nerves, as he stared avidly at Naruto's approach. "This is going to be quite an exercise."
Sasuke watched from his low position on the ground as the glow subdued, becoming barely visible by the time Naruto got close enough to see clearly. His blond rival was still covered in blood, but the healing process must have kicked into overtime for there were no visible wounds. It relieved Sasuke to see that Naruto had recovered, but a bigger part of his soul shook at the implication of the red glow and the feral, toothy smile that graced the blonde's face.
'Naruto, is that you?' Sasuke thought, his eyes raking over Naruto, 'why do you look so different? Why are you.. not you?'
While Sasuke watched dumbfounded, the blonde stretched, his arms reaching to the skies above his head. Itachi never took his madly circling Sharingan off Naruto, not approaching the apparently unguarded boy, his smile a sight dimmer than it had been a second ago. Lazily, Naruto brought his arms down and patted his legs rhythmically, finally turning his head towards Sasuke who lay on the ground speechless and powerless.
"Sasuke, don't you look pathetic just laying there. I guess it's up to me to get this bastard out of the way."
A fissure of fear spiked through Sasuke. Naruto's voice had not sounded like the usual Naruto; the voice had been laden with so much malice, but more than that, it had quivered with palpable power. And the way he was standing, so relaxed and loose as if he was on a stroll, was wrong. Then there were his eyes - the eyes that Sasuke knew so well, the blue of the skies and the seas. They were not blue any longer, but a color that resembled the blood that stained the golden of his hair, a red lit from behind with interspersed flecks of gold. Everything about Naruto had changed, screaming wrongness and power, a combination that could not bode well for any of them.
"I can almost taste it, Sasuke," Naruto continued, blithely trampling over Sasuke's concerns and shock, "I will taste the sweetness of blood and death." A growling laughter erupted from the blonde and he crouched low, his hands in front of him curled like claws. "See me, Sasuke. Let me show you death."
Sasuke saw Naruto launch himself at Itachi, the smile never fading, and felt the impact of Naruto and Itachi's opposing chakras as they collided. The maelstrom of chakra and power twisted in the woods, sending his battered body flying from the center of it all. Sasuke barely felt his body land, barely heard Sakura's terrified screams; his eyes could not leave Naruto and Itachi locked in battle, their feet digging deep into the ground and chakra swirling like a hurricane around them.
'Naruto, what are you? Why do you have this power?'
That was Sasuke's last coherent thought, then the world faded to crimson and he knew nothing more.
--
Kakashi stopped, his heart thumping wildly his throat. Next to him, Asuma and Kurenai also paused in their mad pursuit of the wrongness as they all felt the intense power washing over them in waves. The silver haired man swallowed thickly and gripped the tree trunk by him hard enough to leave cracks in the bark. This power, this feeling..
"There are two chakras, wouldn't you say?"
The masked ninja was rather surprised that his voice had not trembled with the fear rocketing through his body. He saw Asuma nod in agreement, his face as tense as Kurenai's.
"One.. I haven't felt it since.." Kakashi paused, not knowing how to verbalize the scene swimming in his head. He was saved the trouble by Kurenai who finished his thought.
"Eight years ago. The Uchiha massacre."
Yes. Kakashi could never forget the feel of that chakra, the chakra of the man who had nearly killed him and then mocked him as he coughed his internal organs out of his mouth. Yet, the chakra was so much more powerful now than he remembered, so much more powerful than what he could muster. Hell, it was more powerful than his, Kurenai's and Asuma's chakras combined.
"The second," Asuma lit his cigarette and inhaled to disperse the knot of terror, "is the demon. The Nine-Tailed demon."
"The seal is breaking, then."
Kakashi grimaced, his eyes trained in the direction of where these chakras were coming from. The situation was pretty damned bad. Not only was there the man who could take all three of them out without breaking a sweat over that way, but the seal of the Demon Bound was breaking. This was something that they were not prepared to deal with; in fact, as it was now, it might only be the Third Hokage himself with a platoon of the best ninjas who could deal with the situation at hand. However, that was not an option they had.
"So, you guys ready?" Kakashi straightened and he shifted the crooked headband on his forehead. His left eye emerged from behind the band, the eye that had made him a legendary ninja in his own right.
"Ready, no. Going, yes." Kurenai quipped, her lips in a smirk that would send lesser men fleeing into the woods, "it's not like we have much of a choice."
"It's a good night to die."
"So it is, Asuma." Kakashi answered, "let us not fear death."
The three ninjas took off as one, heading steadily closer to the center of swirling inevitability.
--
TBC
--
Warning: Blood, Violence, Bad Bad Words, MORE Violence
Disclaimer: Not own Naruto. That's right, I said it.
A Demon's Face
"Kakashi, you should have gotten us earlier!"
The silver haired man ignored Kurenai's slightly trembling statement as he made a lengthy jump from the tree branch. When he had found Kurenai and Asuma earlier drinking tea and settling in for the night shift, they had shrugged nonchalantly at his concerns and had only come after deciding that it would do some good to get exercise. Then as they jumped branch to branch towards the direction Kakashi felt the most wrongness, they had felt it as well, and now, mere half an hour after this pursuit began, all three were uneasy and nervous.
The smell, as Kakashi had termed it, grew in strength the more they moved westward towards the site of their old camp grounds, the scent of danger intensifying with every step. Asuma bit down on his unlit cigarette hard, nearly severing the butt in half, as he pondered the situation at hand. This ugly feeling had not existed during the battle four days ago, he would have noticed it then with his heightened battle senses, but it was related, he knew it. Something in his gut told him that the real reason for the attack lay behind this dangerous crackling in the air and that it certainly related back to the missing ninjas of the battalion.
Only if he knew how it all connected, then he would not be feeling like he was walking blind into a cave full of traps.
"We're getting closer," Kakashi announced, breaking Asuma's revelry, "let's step it a bit, shall we?"
The three commanders of the 121 became faster than the wind, their forms blurring into the woods and the night enveloping them. Something was happening, and they would be damned if they missed it.
--
Sakura opened her eyes despite all her neurons telling her that it was not a good idea. She agreed when pain violently wracked her head as soon as the weak moonlight hit her pupils. Groaning softly, Sakura squinted to focus her eyes, but the world was a blur of dark colors.
"Sasuke?"
Good gracious, was that her voice that sounded like sandpaper over a chalkboard? What had happened? Slowly, her memories presented her with visual images and aural sensations, all of it culminating in a vicious hit that made her see stars, then nothing at all.
'Oh, yeah,' her sluggish thoughts said, 'I was knocked out.'
Her eyes had yet to focus on anything, but her ears made out distinct sounds ahead of her. She heard clink of metal bouncing off each other, the sickening soft thuds of landed hits on soft spots of a body, and the occasional suppressed gurgle of pain. Overlaying all these sounds of a furious fight was a constant mocking laughter, the one that had sent shivers down her spine before the world went blankly dark.
Ah, yes, how could she forget, even in her state of confused semi- consciousness, that a man named Itachi had been hunting them?
'Oh gods,' came the unbidden thought, 'is that..'
Ignoring the pain, Sakura opened her eyes and forced them to adjust to the night and the light. Eventually, she saw shapes form into bodies and shadows transmute into faces.
Sasuke and Naruto were fighting against one man. And they were losing badly.
Naruto had long ago abandoned everything Kakashi had taught him about taijutsu, his limbs having numbed from the pain. It was all he could do to dodge the mockingly nonchalant hits dealt out by Itachi, let alone launch an effective counterstrike. He moved only on instinct, letting his body react before his mind could process the results, swaying like a windblown willow, keeping his balance only by sheer power of his will. Out of the corner of his swollen right eye, he could see Sasuke fighting just as hard as he, and just as desperate. The dark haired genius' eyes flickered from dark to red, the chakra required to maintain the Sharingan having depleted some time ago. Still, determination etched every weary and achy line of his face.
Sakura lied still on the ground, watching Sasuke and Naruto as they fought Itachi who did not even have to move in order to avoid their attacks and jutsus. She saw that with every move Naruto made, a fresh stream of blood from some wound would snake out into the air, dully reflecting the cold moonlight before it splattered onto the already soaking ground. She winced when Sasuke kicked and was brutally blocked, hearing that awful crunch that signified a major bone break.
'I have to help. I have to help.' The mantra ran in her head over and over, but she could not force her body to move in order to carry out that mission. Her arms shook every time she even thought about moving them, her legs gave out before she could put weight on them. It was as if her body was telling her to stay down, stay out and pretend just to be dead.
Sound of branches snapping made her turn her head, her eyes taking in the sight of Sasuke as he sailed through the air along with the tree parts that got taken out by his body. Her green eyes widened and filled with tears and panic when Sasuke landed on his back, air forced out of his lungs along with a smattering of blood. Slowly, painfully, on shaking hands and knees that threatened to crumble, she crawled towards his prone form, trying hard not to draw any attention to herself. If Sasuke had been dispatched so easily, she stood no chance and it would do no one any good if she got killed by being careless.
The nearer she got to his body, the clearer she could make out the numerous injuries that he had sustained. He still coughed blood, every choking wheeze bringing a fresh supply of the life liquid pouring out of his mouth, and the way he breathed, that wet, gurgling sound, told her that he had a punctured lung. He was covered in blood, she had no idea a human being could lose so much of it and still live, but thank the gods, he was alive. Labored breathing, the twitching fingers in the earth, they all told her that even if he was so wounded that his eyes glazed over in incomprehension, he was still alive.
Carefully, mindful of the injuries, Sakura cleared the dark hair away from his handsome face and cradled his head into her lap. She could not be sure if Itachi could see her trying to help Sasuke, but since she had not been attacked, she assumed safety. What was that Kakashi had taught her about medical treatment? She recalled his lectures, the techniques that he had shown her, how he had explained the use of chakra in order to heal. She had never done it before, but she knew the theories by heart. If she wanted to help Sasuke, she would have to do this. So far, all she had done was watch him as he fought in her stead, protected her from every threat. In the least, she could heal some of his injuries and bring him some comfort.
Closing her eyes, Sakura centered herself and formed her chakra, her head a calm space of Kakashi's voice intoning everything she needed to do in order to heal someone. The sounds of the still on-going fight faded from her ears, the feel of death and blood receded and soon, only the feel of her chakra flowing out of her and into Sasuke remained. She no longer cared that her own face throbbed or that her head hurt, because in the center of her being was Sasuke, slowly regaining his consciousness as she poured herself into him.
A muffled groan snapped her out of her revelries and reality crashed back into her harshly. The vague twinge she had distantly identified as a headache became a full grown monster of a migraine, pounding into her skull in cadence to the dancing spots of light in her eyes. The strength she had left had been spent in order to bring Sasuke back, and it was all she could do not to fall onto the boy face first.
"Sasuke," she whispered, her heart hammering in her chest, "are you okay?"
For a short moment, there was nothing but Sasuke climbing back into the conscious world, his breathing harsh but no longer watery. When his eyes opened, Sakura's breath left her in a swift exhale; his eyes, the color of the darkest night, looked up at her with a fierce conviction.
"What.." Sasuke began, unsure of where he was, "what the hell happened? Is it over?"
Before Sakura could answer, a short scream echoed in the air followed by a heavy sound of a body being driven into the earth. In unison, Sakura and Sasuke turned their heads to see Naruto, face down on the ground with Itachi's right foot grinding him ever deeper into the rocky soil. Naruto's fingers gripped the earth, the loose dirt sifting through the digits, as he tried to get up, only to be thwarted by the powerful man standing on him.
"Are you recovered, brother dear?"
Cursing silently, Sasuke shook off Sakura's restraining hands and rolled over onto his stomach, his eyes flickering back into the red of the Sharingan. He could feel his chakra draining as he did, having used too much in this impossible fight against Itachi, but he would not leave Naruto to fight alone. He had left him alone for too long already it seemed, picking up his slack while he had passed out.
"Not quite a hundred percent, I see." Itachi threw his head back and let out an echoing laugh, his left hand idly flipping a kunai into the air. "Your friend here, I admire his fire. He's quite interesting."
Growling, Sasuke gathered his legs, forcing strength he did not have into them. He had to stand, damn it. This fight was supposed to be his and his alone, the goal of his life, the reason that he joined the Special Academy, the wherefore of his training. Naruto should not even be there, moaning under the grinding heel of his murderous brother. If anything, that should be him.
"Let go of him." Sasuke rose onto his knees, his eyes never leaving the form of his brother, and his hands began forming a jutsu. His vision narrowed to a pinpoint, only seeing Naruto struggling and Itachi laughing, as he formed the final seals and gathered his chakra. He would save Naruto, get them out of here away from his brother. As much as the idiot had boasted, there was no way to beat Itachi here and now, but if they could just get away.. if they could just survive.. then there would be another chance to face his brother.
A burst of flames and smoke flew towards Itachi, illuminating the night with a ruddy color as it traveled faster than Sakura's eyes could track. The ground around Itachi exploded and blazed when the fire jutsu hit, throwing Sasuke and Sakura back with the force created from the explosion.
Dust was still settling when Sasuke hastily raised his head to look for any signs of his brother. Smoke obscured his Sharingan vision, but he stared out into the smoking crater. He had to have some kind of damage to Itachi with that, it was the most powerful jutsu he knew. However, his hope was dashed rather quickly when a figure without a scratch on him stepped through the swirling mist of dirt and smoke to throw a limp body at him.
"You almost toasted your friend, Sasuke." Itachi mused as Sasuke scrambled to Naruto's side. "You must hate me more than I thought if you would sacrifice your friend to hurt me."
"I did not sacrifice him," Sasuke replied angrily. Even so, his hands skimmed over Naruto's unconscious and singed form to check for injuries he might have inflicted. When he concluded that all of Naruto's injuries were from Itachi and not from him, relief at not hurting his friend washed over him. Yet, close behind the relief was a roiling emotion he could not define, boiling hot and steady, ready to rip out of his pores. It reflected in his eyes that could no longer hold the Sharingan, turning the glossy black into a pair of lightless pits.
"I do hate you." Sasuke picked up Naruto, his arms almost breaking at the added dead weight, and somehow stood. Without looking away from his grinning brother, Sasuke deposited Naruto on the ground as far away from Itachi he could get without losing sight of him. "I am an avenger. Hatred for you is what keeps me going. Killing you is my goal." His voice went dead, belying the raging fire that burned in his body. "You cannot be forgiven."
Sasuke touched the blonde boy gently across his scarred cheek, his eyes lingering on the slack and bloody face for a second, before he limped towards Itachi. He could not win against him, oh he knew that quite well, especially alone. But Naruto should not have been involved in the first place; this fight was between them, the last two remainders of the Uchiha clan. He stopped only once on his approach towards Itachi, when a hand grasped him by his bad ankle, the grip so light and hesitant that it could have been the wind.
"Sakura," Sasuke monotoned, "let go."
"This is crazy, Sasuke," he heard her moan, her voice shaking and wet, "let's just get away from here."
"I thought that we could. I thought that if we distracted him enough, we could run and fight another day." Sasuke shook off Sakura's hand and continued his short trek towards the figure waiting so patiently for him. "But he won't let me."
Finally, he stood before his brother, his right arm out and his left arm held slightly above his waist, the stance for his most favored taijutsu. He had no chakra left, practically no strength left, and his mind blurred with exhaustion and pain. Still, he had to fight.
"Take care of Naruto, Sakura."
Burying the crushing jolt of pain that ran up his frame, Sasuke attacked.
--
The first thing Naruto saw when he opened his eyes was Sakura crouched on the ground next to him, her head buried in her hands. He heard the hiccoughing noise that emerged from her hidden face, and it took him a bit to figure out that she was crying.
'What the hell?' That thought was quickly followed by a wellspring of panic. 'Sasuke!'
He tried, he really did, to get up, to stand, to even fucking crawl, but nothing responded. His arms remained at his side, his legs refused his commands and even his head could not swivel. Of all times to be paralyzed..
'Sakura. Sakura, please. Please look at me and tell me what the hell is going on.' The words swam in his head, but he could not voice them. And despite all his pleadings that echoed in the vault of his mind, Sakura continued to cry into her hands, and he could only gauge that the situation was truly bad if that was her reaction.
'Sasuke can't be dead, because..' He paused in his ramblings, not quite knowing why he had such monumental faith in Sasuke and his abilities. Since when had he admired his rival so much that he could not even fathom the dark haired boy failing in anything, even believing that he could win this fight against Itachi?
'Think later. Move now.'
Sakura's sobbing grew distant from his mind as he concentrated on nudging his unresponsive limbs to action. When Sasuke had been knocked out, he had barely managed to keep Itachi busy enough so that he would not go after his rival. He had endured everything that came at him, thrown everything he had at the damned sinister ninja, but even so, it had not been enough. Now, he could hear Sasuke putting up a fight, most likely trying harder than he had since this seemed to be a personal matter for the boy, but he knew it could not last. Granted, he admitted, Sasuke was a better ninja than him by far, but even when the two of them had been fighting together, the odds had been very much against them. Therefore, as he lay here like a lump of dirt, Sasuke was getting his ass handed back to him.
'I can't feel my legs.' His eyes squeezed shut, his lips formed into a snarl. 'I can't feel any chakra in me. Damn it, heal faster!'
"Is this all you can do?" The blonde heard Itachi sing, his voice carrying like feathers in the wind, "is this all you have, Sasuke?"
'Sasuke, keep fighting!' Naruto silently screamed as he dug deeper in himself to find the strength. 'Keep fighting. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be..'
Somewhere in this body, there had to be something left, anything. Something had to be there, something he could grab on to, whether it be the last vestiges of his will to survive or the final burst of strength one gets when there is a dire emergency.
'Find it, damn it, and get the fuck up.'
He struggled to find the power to stand, retreating further and further into himself, and the sounds of Sasuke's battle merged with the roaring of blood and frustration in his head. It created an incomprehensible noise that sent his mind spiraling, the sightless vertigo stifling his mind like a coffin. Soon, everything became darker than the deepest of moonless nights, his mind cutting ties with reality and sinking into this disturbing new shadow. Dimly, Naruto realized that he was lost in his own mind, drowning in his quest to find the power that he needed to help Sasuke, to help himself.
'Well, this is fucking rich. Sasuke's so going to laugh at me after this.' The thought drifted and sank, Naruto following in its wake. 'I sure do know how to make a situation worse.' If he had a form here in his mind, he might have laughed. Well, he certainly was fucked now, wasn't he.
He might have drifted forever in his mind laughing at himself if it weren't for a shaft of crimson light that suddenly snared him in its ethereal grip. It pulled at him, tugging him, until he had to acknowledge it. As soon as he did, a powerful voice broke through the shade of his mind to show him the way.
'Deeper, go deeper,' the voice rang, palpable power undulating within it with every syllable, 'go past the darkness, past the person that is Uzumaki Naruto.'
Naruto reached out and felt razor hot inferno sear his mind.
'Deeper. Deeper.' The voice commanded, and he followed without regards to the burning that surrounded his inner mind. 'Come to me.'
The white hot conflagration that surrounded him licked at the edges of his being, scorching the bits and pieces that made him Uzumaki Naruto, seeping into his pores only to burst back out. It hurt, dear lord, did it ever hurt, but Naruto continued towards the voice, ignoring that small voice that told him to run.
'Closer. Closer.'
The fire consumed him, and from the ashes rose a demonic visage, teeth snapping and grinning terribly.
--
It had to be too soon for sunrise, but Sasuke's pain confused mind could only think that the red glowing light emanating at the corner of his eyes had to be the sun rising. The light broke the darkness in half, illuminating the trees and the grass in crimson, coloring his brother's madly grinning face in blood and fire. Wearily standing a scant foot away from his brother, Sasuke risked turning his eyes away to the source of this new light and saw Naruto in the middle of it, shining and glowing like a backlit ruby.
"Well, there's something interesting."
The excitement trembling in Itachi's voice startled Sasuke, the sudden surprise enough to make him lose concentration needed to stay upright. His legs gave and he fell heavily onto the ground on his side, his eyes still on the shining Naruto.
"And I was beginning to think this was a waste of my time." Itachi purred, the words grating on Sasuke's nerves, as he stared avidly at Naruto's approach. "This is going to be quite an exercise."
Sasuke watched from his low position on the ground as the glow subdued, becoming barely visible by the time Naruto got close enough to see clearly. His blond rival was still covered in blood, but the healing process must have kicked into overtime for there were no visible wounds. It relieved Sasuke to see that Naruto had recovered, but a bigger part of his soul shook at the implication of the red glow and the feral, toothy smile that graced the blonde's face.
'Naruto, is that you?' Sasuke thought, his eyes raking over Naruto, 'why do you look so different? Why are you.. not you?'
While Sasuke watched dumbfounded, the blonde stretched, his arms reaching to the skies above his head. Itachi never took his madly circling Sharingan off Naruto, not approaching the apparently unguarded boy, his smile a sight dimmer than it had been a second ago. Lazily, Naruto brought his arms down and patted his legs rhythmically, finally turning his head towards Sasuke who lay on the ground speechless and powerless.
"Sasuke, don't you look pathetic just laying there. I guess it's up to me to get this bastard out of the way."
A fissure of fear spiked through Sasuke. Naruto's voice had not sounded like the usual Naruto; the voice had been laden with so much malice, but more than that, it had quivered with palpable power. And the way he was standing, so relaxed and loose as if he was on a stroll, was wrong. Then there were his eyes - the eyes that Sasuke knew so well, the blue of the skies and the seas. They were not blue any longer, but a color that resembled the blood that stained the golden of his hair, a red lit from behind with interspersed flecks of gold. Everything about Naruto had changed, screaming wrongness and power, a combination that could not bode well for any of them.
"I can almost taste it, Sasuke," Naruto continued, blithely trampling over Sasuke's concerns and shock, "I will taste the sweetness of blood and death." A growling laughter erupted from the blonde and he crouched low, his hands in front of him curled like claws. "See me, Sasuke. Let me show you death."
Sasuke saw Naruto launch himself at Itachi, the smile never fading, and felt the impact of Naruto and Itachi's opposing chakras as they collided. The maelstrom of chakra and power twisted in the woods, sending his battered body flying from the center of it all. Sasuke barely felt his body land, barely heard Sakura's terrified screams; his eyes could not leave Naruto and Itachi locked in battle, their feet digging deep into the ground and chakra swirling like a hurricane around them.
'Naruto, what are you? Why do you have this power?'
That was Sasuke's last coherent thought, then the world faded to crimson and he knew nothing more.
--
Kakashi stopped, his heart thumping wildly his throat. Next to him, Asuma and Kurenai also paused in their mad pursuit of the wrongness as they all felt the intense power washing over them in waves. The silver haired man swallowed thickly and gripped the tree trunk by him hard enough to leave cracks in the bark. This power, this feeling..
"There are two chakras, wouldn't you say?"
The masked ninja was rather surprised that his voice had not trembled with the fear rocketing through his body. He saw Asuma nod in agreement, his face as tense as Kurenai's.
"One.. I haven't felt it since.." Kakashi paused, not knowing how to verbalize the scene swimming in his head. He was saved the trouble by Kurenai who finished his thought.
"Eight years ago. The Uchiha massacre."
Yes. Kakashi could never forget the feel of that chakra, the chakra of the man who had nearly killed him and then mocked him as he coughed his internal organs out of his mouth. Yet, the chakra was so much more powerful now than he remembered, so much more powerful than what he could muster. Hell, it was more powerful than his, Kurenai's and Asuma's chakras combined.
"The second," Asuma lit his cigarette and inhaled to disperse the knot of terror, "is the demon. The Nine-Tailed demon."
"The seal is breaking, then."
Kakashi grimaced, his eyes trained in the direction of where these chakras were coming from. The situation was pretty damned bad. Not only was there the man who could take all three of them out without breaking a sweat over that way, but the seal of the Demon Bound was breaking. This was something that they were not prepared to deal with; in fact, as it was now, it might only be the Third Hokage himself with a platoon of the best ninjas who could deal with the situation at hand. However, that was not an option they had.
"So, you guys ready?" Kakashi straightened and he shifted the crooked headband on his forehead. His left eye emerged from behind the band, the eye that had made him a legendary ninja in his own right.
"Ready, no. Going, yes." Kurenai quipped, her lips in a smirk that would send lesser men fleeing into the woods, "it's not like we have much of a choice."
"It's a good night to die."
"So it is, Asuma." Kakashi answered, "let us not fear death."
The three ninjas took off as one, heading steadily closer to the center of swirling inevitability.
--
TBC
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