Chapter 8: Salvation!
"I never ASKED for you to come and get me! I am SO tired of you, dropout boy! DIE! Fire Element - Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke roared.
A mass of fire left Sasuke and formed itself into the shape of a dragon! It headed straight for Naruto!
The blonde Genin grinned despite this. Instead of running away or at least jumping over it, Naruto did something that no one had expected. He started walking. Naruto walked towards Sasuke with a grin on his face. T
he fire dragon hit it´s mark with a loud bam! Sakura´s eyes widened with horror. Tears started running down her cheeks like two waterfalls.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed.
(No, no, no, no! Don´t die, Naruto! Please don´t...!) Sakura thought. Then, her eyes saw something that broke her miserable train of thoughts. Something that made her smile again. Something that made her wispher:
"Go do it!"
Sasuke relaxed slightly, then he tensed up again almost immediately. A second later, Naruto emerged from the smoke. Blue Chakra was burning around him and he was STILL grinning! Sasuke growled, then he roared!
"I said, DIE! Fire Element - Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and fired off another attack.
This attack also hit it´s mark. But like before, Naruto emerged from the smoke and continued walking. His clothes were burned and so was most of his skin, but he didn´t even seem to care. He just kept on walking. Sasuke took a step back. He was starting to shake now. He quickly made some hand seals again.
"Why aren´t you dead yet? Fire Element - Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and sent another attack.
Naruto was hit and he staggered back a few steps. It only took a second for him to start walking again, though. Now he was only 6 meters from Sasuke. The raven haired boy was starting to sweat. He took two involuntary steps back.
"H, how? W, why? W, why do you KEEP walking? WHY? Fire Element - Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and fired off another attack.
Naruto was hit for the fourth time and he staggered back a little. He shook his head and started walking again. Naruto looked up, and Sasuke gasped. He was STILL grinning!
"Because..." The blonde boy mumbled.
Sakura stood a distance away. She had a small smile on her face.
"Because..." Sakura wisphered to herself.
"Because...I have promised to bring you back! You are important to us, Sasuke! To all of us! We all love you, Sasuke! If the only way for you to get that into your thick head, is for me to beat you up, then SO BE IT!" Naruto yelled.
He was only 3 meters from Sasuke now. Sasuke took another step back. He made the same hand seals again for the fifth time.
"S, stay away! Fire Element - Dragon Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and flung off his fifth attack!
The attack hit Naruto and a large smoke cloud erupted from the impact. Sasuke panted hard. He was shaking in fear and his eyes were wide in disbelief. Then, it happened. Naruto emerged from the smoke cloud and leapt at the unsuspecting boy. Sasuke´s eyes went wider than saucers!
"I WON´T let Orochimaru get his hands on you! You´re too important to us!" Naruto yelled.
Kabuto finally snapped out of his trance at this point. He quickly ran forward to stop the blonde boy´s advances. A long slender leg swept him off his feet and stopped him instead, though. Kabuto looked up into the grim face of Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi wagged her finger back and forth. Sakura gave Kabuto a real death-glare.
"They are NOT to be disturbed!" Sakura stated, seriously.
She then went completely serious as she picked up a kunai. Kabuto knew that he had to wait for her to come off-guard before he could do anything without taking any risks. Naruto pulled back his fist and Sasuke raised his arms again.
"S, stay away! S, stay the hell away from me! STAY AWAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!" Sasuke screamed.
In that instant, the sun began to set over the horizon.
In it´s last dying rays, Kabuto and Sakura saw something they never would have imagined. Standing with his arms around the raven haired boy, was Naruto. He had his head on Sasuke´s shoulder and he appeared to be shaking.
"Sasuke..." Naruto wisphered and tightened the so-called hug.
"Aaahh..." Sasuke couldn´t form a single word.
Everything in his brain stood still.
"You are our...irreplaceable...Uchiha. Our...very important...Sasu...ke..." Naruto trailed off.
The blonde boy then closed his eyes and went limp. He slid downwards. Just as he was going to hit the ground, a pair of strong arms caught him. Sasuke held Naruto close to him. He was shaking.
"Naruto...! You...really think that?" Sasuke said and his voice broke.
His burning desire to kill his brother...his lust for power...the avenger in him...they all disappeared briefly in that moment. Sasuke tightened his grip on Naruto. Two drops fell, and they weren´t rain or blood. As Sasuke shed tears for the first time in many, many years, the Cursed Seal withdrew into the mark on his neck. It was in that instant, that he realised how much they all cared for him. It was then and there, that he realised how loved he had been all along back in Konoha.
It was then, he realised that he had been on the brink of throwing it all away. Just to obtain enough power to kill one person. Sasuke clenched his fists hard and shook his head rapidly, making the tears fly from his eyes.
He opened his eyes and looked down at the unconscious blonde boy in his arms. His coal black eyes shone with new life, with new determination! Seeing Naruto voluntarily taking Dragon Fire after Dragon Fire just to get him to understand how much he and the others cared, was enough to spark something that was supposedly dead within him. Sasuke bent down close to Naruto´s ear.
"Naruto...thank you." Sasuke breathed.
Sasuke gently laid Naruto on the ground. He stood up and turned around. What Sakura saw, made her smile broadly. The usuall scowl was on his face, but this time it was different from a few moments ago. His eyes were shining, his posture was relaxed, and his mouth, was formed into a smile.
"SASUKE!" Sakura yelled as tears of happiness flowed down her cheeks.
Sasuke looked at her with a genuine smile.
"What?" Sasuke said.
For the first time in years, he felt that he could take a free breath. Sakura was just going to say something, when a foot planted itself in her stomach. Sakura´s eyes went wide with pain and she coughed upp saliva, before crashing down onto the ground. Sasuke´s eyes widened in surprise, then they narrowed in anger. Kabuto got up on his feet and looked at Sasuke with his good old evil grin. He pushed up his glasses and started twirling a kunai in his hand.
Sasuke took a step forward and growled. He was shaking with anger. Sasuke felt the Cursed Seal beg to be activated once again, but he firmly held it in with his will. (I will NOT use that damned thing again! No way in HELL!) Sasuke thought. Sasuke felt that most of his Chakra had already been used up.
But that didn´t stop him from focusing a bit of what was left into his eyes.
"Sharingan!" Sasuke announced and opened his eyes wide.
His coal black eyes turned crimson with two black dots in each eye. Sasuke slid into a battle pose and glared at Kabuto. The Sound ninja sighed and smiled. Kabuto slid into a fighting stance as well.
"Well, well, well. It looks like you´ve had a change of heart, Sasuke-kun! And at the very last minute too! What a shame. Well, no matter. I will bring you to Orochimaru-sama with or without your consent! Orochimaru-sama can surely make you see things from his point of view! But, maybe all hope isn´t lost quite yet. I mean, you don´t even have your forehead protector! The very symbol of a ninja´s heritage and village! That means that you really have thrown away Konoha!" Kabuto said.
Sasuke realised that there were some truth in his statement. Sasuke felt as if someone had dropped a huge ice cube into his stomach. But he shook his head and frowned. No, he had merely been on his way of throwing away Konoha, but he hadn´t. And that was what mattered. Then he spotted something beside him. Naruto lay beside him on the ground.
Sasuke bent down and untied his forehead protector. He stood up straight and brought it up to his own forehead.
"I´m borrowing this! Naruto!" Sasuke wisphered.
Sasuke finished and brought his hands down from his head. The symbol of Konoha was once again proudly on his forehead! Kabuto frowned at this. Sasuke was slipping away from him and he realised it.
"Well! If you´re finished, let´s hurry up and finish this!" Kabuto exclaimed.
He started making hand seals. Tiger. Ram. Serpent. Tiger. Serpent. Dragon. Kabuto´s hands were enveloped in Chakra once again. Sasuke humphed at this and slid into his battle pose.
"Allright, then! Let´s get this party started!" Sasuke yelled.
Sasuke charged at Kabuto and threw a punch. Kabuto managed to block it though. Kabuto grinned, then he brought the kunai forward. Sasuke´s Sharingan helped him see it coming before the move was even made, so he dodged it by somersaulting over his enemy. Just as Sasuke flipped over Kabuto, the Sound ninja stopped his kunai-armed hand in mid-thrust, and spun around. He jerked the kunai straight into Sasuke´s stomach. Only that, it never got there.
Sasuke´s Sharingan had once again served him well by foreseeing the move. Sasuke spun in the air and kicked the kunai out of Kabuto´s hand. But barely a second after the kick, came Kabuto´s Chakra enpowered hand and grabbed Sasuke´s foot!
"Arrgh!" Sasuke grunted and forced his foot out of his enemy´s grip.
As he landed a distance away, Sasuke felt a sharp pang of pain in his foot. The Uchiha looked down and didn´t see anything wrong with his foot. But when he tried to put some weight on it, it instantly started throbbing with pain.
Sasuke let out a pained grunt at this.
"You bastard! What did you do?" Sasuke demanded.
Kabuto snickered.
"I used my Iron Ninjutsu to paralyze the nerves in your foot! I trust that you won´t be able to move around normally for a while!" Kabuto said.
"What? Damn it!" Sasuke grunted.
(Damn! What should I do now! My Chakra is low and now I can´t even move around normally? Damn it all! No, I´m not giving up! Not by a longshot!) Sasuke thought. He reached behind him and dug around in his item pouch. The Sound ninja grinned at him and reached within his own pocket. He pulled out a blue scroll. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this.
He brought his hands up in front of him and made hand seals faster than the human eye could follow! Then he put two fingers at his mouth.
"Fire Element - Phoenix Fire Technique!" Sasuke yelled and spat out six fireballs.
He then brought his hands forward and charged after the flying fireballs. Kabuto grinned and made hand seals with the blue scroll in his hands. He then grabbed it in mid-air and unwrapped it. Kabuto spun it around himself and brought up two erect fingers to his face. Just as the fireballs were going hit him, his eyes snapped open.
"Blue Scroll! Scroll Technique! Water Element - Powerfull Water Spurt Technique!" Kabuto yelled.
The blue scroll then wrapped itself up again over Kabuto´s head. A powerfull spurt of water shot out from it a second later, it headed straight for the oncoming fireballs. The water completely drenched the fireballs, but what happened next came as a complete shock. For Kabuto, that is. Six kunai´s flew through the spurt of water and headed straight for him!
The Sound ninja´s eyes widened at this. He quickly jumped into the air to avoid the kunai´s. Kabuto looked down and spotted a large fireball heading his way!
Down on the ground, Sasuke stood with one of his fingers formed as a ring over his mouth. The fireball hit it´s target with an explosion! Sasuke brought his hand down and stared into the smoke cloud.
He was panting and a drop of sweat made it´s way across his temple. Using the Phoenix Fire and the Grand Fireball Techniques had zapped almost all of his Chakra. He only had a minimum amount left. (If the Grand Fireball didn´t finish it, then I´m in trouble!) Sasuke thought. His legs wobbled lightly and he cursed. He was more drained than he thought.
"Red Scroll! Scroll Technique! Fire Element - Fire Rain Technique!"
Sasuke´s crimson red eyes widened.
"What the?" Sasuke gasped and looked up.
Multiple fireballs flew out of the smoke cloud and started making random impacts on the ground! Sasuke quickly started dodging them. Out of the smoke cloud, came his enemy. Kabuto´s clothes were slightly ripped and he had small burns on his skin. Kabuto held a red scroll in his hand, it was unwrapped and flapping around in the wind. Sasuke dodged the last fireball and landed on his knees. He was panting harder now. Kabuto landed a distance away.
He stood up and brushed off his burnt clothes. The everlasting grin was on his face. Sasuke growled at this. (Damn it! Now what? I don´t have enough Chakra...) Sasuke thought. He pondered this intensively for the next dire seconds. But no matter how much he thought about it, no solution came to mind. Sasuke smiled sourly.
"You seem to be a pretty well prepared opponent, Kabuto! My Chakra is almost completely gone, while you seem to have quite a bit left! Well, there´s not much I can do about it..." Sasuke said.
Kabuto smiled at this and dropped the used scroll on the ground.
"Oh? So does that mean that you are going to come quietly now?" Kabuto asked.
Sasuke lowered his head, then he humphed. He lifted his head again and grinned. Something had happened to him during these last few seconds. A new kind of feeling was emanating from inside of him. Sasuke wondered what it was at first, then it came to him. (This...this must be the feeling...the drive... that Naruto felt when he was fighting Gaara in the forest.
This must be the drive that he feels all the time when he fights! So THIS is what has been driving that loudmouth!
Heh, it makes perfect sense!) Sasuke thought. He knew now what it was. It was the drive to protect.
The drive to protect the ones you hold dear. The feeling was filling him, filling his body. Sasuke wasn´t sure how it had gotten there, but what he was sure of, was that the feeling, no, the craving, needed to be satisfied.
His paralyzed foot didn´t matter, his wounds didn´t matter, Konoha didn´t matter, his low Chakra amount didn´t matter, and Orochimaru certainly didn´t matter. All that mattered was the drive. Sasuke looked down at his hands. They were trembling. Sasuke looked over at Naruto. (Naruto! I finally understand! Heh, it turned out that I was the blockhead! Enough about that! Time to go!) Sasuke thought. Sasuke grinned at Kabuto, wich annoyed the Sound ninja greatly. Sasuke clenched his fists and stood upright.
"YYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Sasuke screamed!
The ground buckled beneath him and cracks traveled far from the crater! (Power...I need power! Not just to be strong! No. I need power...so that I can protect the ones I love! I need power...!) Sasuke thought. The Cursed Seal on his neck flashed dangerously red, then it shone white! A roar traveled from Sasuke´s stomach, up to his throat and out through his mouth! Then three strong yellow beams of light shot out from the Cursed Seal!
Sasuke´s roar rose into a scream that was louder than every scream he had ever let loose! The yellow beams now ceased and the Cursed Seal came into view again. This time it was different. The Evil Suppressor had disappeared. It had been replaced by a black ring that went around the three dots that made the Cursed Seal.
Three quirks stood out from the ring. (The "quirks" looks like the quirks in Itachi´s Mangekyou Sharingan in the manga) Sasuke stopped screaming and lowered his arms to his sides. He dropped his head and just stood there. Kabuto stared at him, dumbfounded. Then Sasuke´s head flew back up and his eyes snapped open.
Kabuto took an involuntary breath as he found the Sharingan staring back at him! Then the Seal on Sasuke´s neck glowed navy-blue. It started spinning and markings spread out across the Uchiha´s body. Kabuto gasped as he saw this.
"W, what the hell´s going on here? T, those aren´t Cursed Seal markings! B, but they came from the Cursed Seal! W, what are they?" Kabuto stuttered.
The markings did indeed look a lot like the Cursed Seal markings. But these markings were navy-blue, not black. Sasuke started growling, then he roared! Dark-blue Chakra exploded from his body! It burned strongly around his body as he relaxed slightly. Sasuke brought up his hands to his face. He slowly clenched and unclenched his fingers. His Sharingan eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.
"Different...this power is...different...! It´s, it´s incredible! I´ve never felt this kind of power! This is...this is the power to protect! Not to destroy! W, what a difference! I´m filled with so much power that it almost scares me! But at the same time, it feels good!" Sasuke exclaimed.
Sasuke stared at his hands for a few more seconds, then he looked up. Kabuto was paralyzed with shock. He couldn´t believe what he was seeing! And for a good reason! Sasuke reached up and put his hand on a special place on his neck. (This...this isn´t the Cursed Seal! The Cursed Seal has changed, somehow. This is almost too much!) Sasuke thought. Sasuke shook his head and removed his hand from the Seal. (This isn´t the time to be wondering about events! This is the time to fight!) Sasuke thought. He put his left arm behind his back and stuck out his right arm before him.
"It´s time to put the Iron Fist Style to good use! You ready, Kabuto? HERE I COME!" Sasuke yelled and charged!
