Chapter 30 Good guys vs Bad guys?
"I want to be a jounin because I want to be strong to protect all my precious people."
Unnamed Sound genin
"I want to be a jounin because I want to be strong to protect all my precious people."
Unnamed Leaf genin
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Sasuke didn't believe in ghosts. When he was younger he had sometimes wandered through the deserted streets of the Uchiha compound, searching for the ghosts of his missing family. He had never found any, so he didn't believe in them. Did it mean Naruto was alive?
"Naruto-niichan, Naruto-niichan! Sasuke-niichan lied to me! He said that you were dead." Inari cried hugging Naruto.
"It's OK kid. I'm alive. It was a replica the one that was damaged. My real body was taken with the Kyubi for healing" the blonde shinobi explained.
Sasuke blinked.
"If I were alone I would think I'm definitely out of my mind. Since Inari also sees you, it may mean we are both crazy." Sasuke mumbled.
"Hai, of course. Communal hallucination, isn't it? Are you going wacko on me?" Naruto wondered with a playful smile. The same smile Sasuke had seen so many times.
Sasuke blinked again. His right hand went to a pill which he quickly swallowed.
"You idiot!" Finally cried Sasuke running to his friend.
Naruto was showing a happy, satisfied smile while Sasuke hugged him. The grin turned to an expression of surprise a few seconds later. It finally changed into an expression of pain as Naruto staggered back, watching the kunai that was protruding from his chest. It wasn't touching any vital point, but the pain was unbearable.
Inari watched in horror. He was too startled to move.
"Why?" Naruto managed to ask.
"I know you and Sakura were having an affair. She confessed. My question is, why? Tell me and I won't kill you." Sasuke ordered taking the kunai out of Naruto's body who screamed in pain.
Naruto stared at his wound and the blood that was leaving his body no matter what he did to stop it. He felt fright. He was going to die. He was going to die.
"Tell me and I'll heal you." Sasuke insisted. He seemed very interested in the blood that kept flowing.
"I'm… sorry. It just happened." Naruto managed to say after a few seconds.
"Bad choice." Sasuke commented as he stabbed again Naruto with the kunai, this time aiming for the heart.
"NARUTO-NIICHAN!" Inari screamed as Naruto collapsed sputtering blood.
Sasuke picked a cigarette from his pocket and lighted it with a quick one-hand seal. He took a long drag. The feel of nicotine rushing through his veins had always comforted him somewhat.
"I'll kill you." A voice promised.
Sasuke looked down. Inari was crying and holding a shaking kunai with a painted blade, an old present from Naruto. «What's more pathetic? A kid holding a kunai against an enemy he can't win against, or a kid that decides to spend the rest of his life as a doomed avenger» wondered Sasuke.
He kneeled down in front of Inari, whose trembling kunai was almost touching his neck. Gently he pushed it down.
"It's OK. He wasn't Naruto."
Inari looked at Sasuke's relaxed face and he turned around. The body was still there, but it wasn't Naruto. It was a big, burly woman with dozens of scars in the face. She was also wearing a different headband.
"Who…?"
"The scam is called Henge no Jutsu. I got tricked by it not so long ago." Sasuke explained "Now you better go away Inari-kun. This place is going to become a battlefield very soon."
"But…" Inari started to say. He shut up when he saw Sasuke's eyes. They had the color of blood. They reminded Inari of sharks. One year ago he had seen one huge shark eating one of his best friends right in front of his eyes. He still shuddered when he thought of the huge body of the shark emerging from the water and all the blood that followed.
Past and present mixed as Inari still stared at Sasuke's red eyes. He heard four bodies emerging from the water around them. He didn't wait as he started to run away. He had understood something: Sasuke-niichan was not like Naruto-niichan: His road was paved in blood.
Sasuke looked at the running Inari as he savored the taste of the cigarette. Only after Inari had disappeared he deigned to glance at four new shinobis that had come into view. Each of them was carrying a wakizashi with a dark red color. He took another long drag as he calculated how long the effects of the combat pill would last.
"Bunjuro, from the Sound. North Gate." Announced the first new shinobi, a young, thin kid with long arms.
"Atsuo. The same. South Gate." The second one, a burly shinobi with a long beard and an aristocratic aura said.
"Aika. The same. East Gate." The third one, the only woman of the group, with silver hair and blue eyes stated.
Sasuke sighed. He took another drag as he looked at the fourth newcomer.
"Kabuto, do these guys actually rehearse their appearances? Is that a requisite for joining the Sound?"
Kabuto grinned with his disarming and friendly smile. He was also carrying the same wakizashi as the others.
"Well, it was better with the four together. You didn't really have to kill Hikari." Kabuto said pointing at the fallen shinobi "How did you find out she was a fake? She was really good at mimicking speech, attitude and voice patterns."
"It was almost too easy. First, she called Inari "kid". Naruto always called Inari by his name when we came to visit. That couldn't be helped since your Hikari didn't know the name of Inari. Second he said, and I quote "replica" instead of clone and "Communal hallucination". Those words were just too complicated for Naruto. He was my best friend, but he always had trouble with words with more than two syllables."
"No offense Sasuke-kun, but… You drove a kunai into who could be your best friend just because some words and a name?" Kabuto wondered
"Well… there was another reason" Sasuke observed "I am an orphan."
"I don't understand." Replied Kabuto after some seconds.
"I know that dead people don't come back." Sasuke explained exhaling smoke "For years every time I woke up I wished my family was still alive and that everything was just a bad dream. Eventually I stopped wishing for the impossible. I held Naruto's dead body in my arms. I cut to pieces Naruto's body. I know Naruto is… dead." After Sasuke uttered that last word, Kabuto had the strange feeling that he could almost grasp the sadness of the black-haired shinobi "That is the reason I made the stunt of asking about a supposed affair. In that situation the smart thing to do would be to lie. Again, Naruto wasn't the type to get out of a hitch by lying. Besides, Naruto would naturally start healing because of his Kyubi metabolism."
Kabuto sighed
"You really are not fun. I bet you don't have many friends. You should take life a little easier. It's not healthy for the body, you know?"
"What were you trying to do?" Sasuke demanded while taking another drag.
"Well... As always, we want your loyalty to the Sound." Kabuto stated with a friendly smile.
"You are lying." Sasuke answered with the same friendly smile "You just want my body. I know all about the "Immortality jutsu". Orochimaru is interested in the Uchiha bloodline, isn't he? You wanted to take me there against my will."
The three members left of the Sound Four glanced at one another nervously
"Well… That's right" Kabuto admitted with his unwavering friendly smile. "If you know that much, you probably also know that when he gets your body he will be forced to follow your most inner desires. That means Itachi."
"That's what I have heard." Sasuke commented slowly while managing to keep the smile. He was also carefully noticing what the direction of the wind was.
"Don't forget your purpose. Don't forget the reason you decided to dedicate your life. No matter how you look at it, Orochimaru has a lot more experience and he knows thousand of deadly jutsus. Don't forget Itachi. Will you come with us to the Sound to complete your fate?" Kabuto asked while extending his hand towards him.
Sasuke had to admit that Kabuto had a certain knack of dramatization. Reminding him of Itachi, the person that would be either his victim or his executioner was a nice move. He smashed his spent cigarette against his hand.
"What will you do avenger?" Kabuto repeated, his hand still extended, inviting him, tempting him, alluring him…
Sasuke didn't answer. Kabuto carefully watched Sasuke. If Orochimaru's future container tried anything funny, they would have to try to capture him unharmed. He watched carefully as Sasuke took another cigarette from his pocket and lit it with a one-hand seal. After exactly five seconds Sasuke sighed. The direction of the air was north-south, strong enough for his needs.
"OK, you win." Sasuke informed throwing the cigarette to the air. The friendly smile returned to his face, only this time he was showing his white teeth.
Kabuto relaxed. However his eyes unconsciously followed the flying cigarette. His senses were telling him that everything was alright but his instincts were shouting to him to bolt. The cigarette was still in the air. It was very close to Aika and Bunjuro now. Suddenly he remembered that Sasuke hadn't picked the cigarette from any pack. He had picked it directly from his pocket.
"DOWN!" Kabuto screamed. He didn't understand why, but they were in danger. The Four Sound were still too young and they reacted late. The cigarette exploded, bathing them with smoke which moved quickly around them.
"TRAP!" Kabuto yelled already half blind. It was an unnecessary move. They all knew they had fallen into a trap. Before the smoke had dissipated Sasuke had started to emit a lethal intent to kill.
Atsuo cursed in three different languages He didn't have time for too many insults though. He wasn't completely blind as he saw Sasuke rushing at him with bloodthirsty eyes after picking Hikari's wakizashi
Atsuo started to make seals. He never got to finish them as Sasuke sliced through his right wrist. Tolerating the pain, Atsuo grasped his custom-made wakizashi jumping backwards to try to counter Sasuke's attack. He wasn't fast enough as Sasuke plunged Hikari's wakizashi straight into him. Immediately Sasuke pushed the wakizashi upwards, piercing through his enemy's spine, cutting through bone and veins. An explosion of red showered Sasuke.
«Oh crap! that hurts, shit, this guy is good, I don't understand why did we have to fight this container, I wouldn't mind being a container myself, oh crap the wakizashi has reached my neck, damn it hurts, so, I'm dying, my sister is stupid, why didn't she want to live with me after our parents died in the war against the Leaf, I mean, brothers and sisters should get…»
Atsuo's life ended one second after the fake cigarette exploded.
Bunjuro finally saw the smoke dissipating, just in time to see Atsuo's collapsing, his chakra disappearing. He screamed in grief. He felt near him Aika and Kabuto gasp in surprise. Sasuke used the brief distraction he still had to use a seal he had learned from the seventy-seventh person he had killed in combat under Leaf's command. In a matter of seconds a deep, terribly thick mist had covered the whole bridge.
Kabuto quickly moved to protect Aika. He couldn't distinguish Bunjuro. At first he thought that Sasuke was trying to run away. Then he remembered that Sasuke had joined the ANBU. The elite of the Leaf followed to the letter one of the golden rules of the cruel Leaf Village: Never retreat.
"BUNJURO COME HERE!" Kabuto yelled when he understood they needed to move closer together.
Bunjuro heard Kabuto yelling. He grimaced when he thought that Kabuto wasn't going to protect him. He would be too busy trying to protect Aika, the weakest of the Sound Four. She and Kabuto should stop acting dumb and just hook up together. Life was too short for a shinobi, anyway.
Well, it was better to fight alone. He didn't need anybody. Common killing strategy was attacking the lone members and the container kid was a member of the ANBU.
Sure enough, through the thick mist he soon heard a chirping sound, accompanied by a terrible killing intent.
«Chidori» Bunjuro thought. He pointed with his whip toward the sound. Sasuke started to run towards him, while the terrible amount of chakra concentrated on his hand dispelled the mist around him. The sharpened tip of the whip shot towards Sasuke, who easily avoided it. However the tip changed direction and moved backwards at lighting speed, surrounding Sasuke's legs.
Bunjuro grinned as Sasuke fell. The whip kept moving around Sasuke and one instant later the Uchiha was completely tied up.
"You fool" Bunjuro gloated "That's my secret jutsu. I can move the whip at will."
"I knew that…" The tied up Sasuke said from the floor.
"…Because one of my ANBU team-mates used the same weapon. He was killed by one missing-nin because he became overconfident." The same voice continued saying from behind Bunjuro, who felt a sharpened iron touching his neck before he could react.
"You used the mist to get a Kage Bushin behind me" Bunjuro calmly observed after swallowing some saliva.
"Aa" Sasuke answered, still holding the wakizashi.
Bunjuro looked up. The sun was totally covered by the mist, but Bunjuro could still feel its presence there. It had been a sunny day, when he had been expelled by his clan because he had been unable to pass the test to prove his adulthood. He had been lying in the ground, wondering if there was anything worth living for.
"You have talent. Don't worry about what those old geezers say about you. If you come with me, I'll explain to you how to develop those powers. Will you come with me?" A cloaked figure asked.
The twelve-year old Bunjuro looked up to see somebody looking at him with an extended hand. To Bunjuro the hand was like salvation.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Orochimaru. I'm nobody's servant. I want to develop your talent in exchange of your loyalty. Do you accept?"
"I accepted" Bunjuro commented "I don't regret it. It was a good life."
Bunjuro looked at the covered sky again.
"You should have killed me immediately. You aren't as tough as you'd like to be. You still don't know how to kill instantaneously in cold-blood. A frail heart will always yield a frail blade."
Sasuke didn't answer.
"One day you will die at the hands of your enemy." Bunjuro said. It wasn't a threat. It was just a fact.
"That's the life of the shinobi" Sasuke replied.
Bunjuro sighed. The time was up. It had really been a good life.
"Ready?"
"Aa."
Bunjuro tried to move as fast as he could. He grabbed his custom-made wakizashi and turned around with all the speed he could muster. It was impossible and he knew it. Sasuke only had to make a single move and he would die.
Sasuke made the move.
Aika felt Bunjuro's chakra disappearing. She closed her eyes in terror. She couldn't believe it. Hikari, Atsuo… and now Bunjuro… all dead.
"Aika! Open your eyes!" Kabuto shouted "Dispel the mist! You were a chuunin in the mist village weren't you?"
"Hai. I'll… I'll…" Aika stuttered. She looked too confused to act.
"Shit!" Was Kabuto's authorised opinion about their situation.
"KATON!" A voice screamed from the mist.
Kabuto felt a raise of temperature and quickly started to make seals. A dragon of ice stopped the fire just as it was about to burn the two Sounds left to a crisp.
They barely had time to react as a second Sasuke erupted upward from underground, not with the fist first, as it was Leaf's style, but with the wakizashi first, trying to kill instantly as it was the ANBU style.
Kabuto didn't have time to react. It was Aika who shoved their enemy away, stabbing the second Sasuke in the arm with her hair that had turned solid in an instant. The second Sasuke vanished.
Kabuto finished some dispelling jutsu, and the mist vanished in thin air. In front of the two shinobis appeared a panting Sasuke. He had exactly the same friendly smile as before the fight. His clothes were also dirty with still wet blood. He was clutching two wakizashis. One of them had the same bright red colour as his eyes.
"There is another reason I knew your "Naruto" was fake. Gai-sensei was killed the night we got tricked by the fake Kakashi. Common sense says it was done by the same person. However Gai was one of the strongest jounins of the Leaf. Only a truly outstanding shinobi could kill him in surprise. There is only one outstanding shinobi that would be interested in making me meet my brother to make me realise my own weakness: The sannin Orochimaru. I will never kneel to the person that caused the death of Naruto. I will make you pay."
"Speed, skill, decision-making, accuracy… the profile was totally wrong about you. Who are you?" Kabuto asked
"I'm just a kid that has spent the last eight years learning how to be the most lethal weapon to kill my only living relative." Sasuke explained with a confident expression. "I really like these wakizashis you guys have."
"They are specially made for the members of the elite of the Sound." Kabuto observed. He was sweating.
"I really like them." Sasuke pointed with his bloody wakizashi to Aika "I'd also like that one."
Aika tried to stop a shudder against Sasuke's dangerously polite words. Their politeness couldn't hide their killing intention.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Aika screamed.
Kabuto stepped in front of her.
"Aika, leave now. Back to the Sound." Kabuto ordered. Aika breathed slowly.
"Don't worry about me Kabuto-san." Aika said with a weak smile "I'm still a member of the Sound Four, the elite of the Sound."
"However, you haven't killed anybody yet, have you?" Kabuto asked.
Aika looked away.
"Forgive me. It was my fault. I saw a lot of talent in you and I decided to put you in the Sound Four although you weren't strong enough." Apologized Kabuto.
"Even if I'm not strong enough, I can still help you." Aika pointed out.
"That would be a bad idea because" Kabuto looked at her. "I can't protect you and beat him at the same time."
Aika stared at him for a few seconds. She looked away, while biting her lip.
"Fine I'll leave."
She commenced to walk away. Kabuto concentrated again on Sasuke, who hadn't moved during their exchange.
"Kabuto-san" Aika said looking back "Don't die, OK?"
"Sure" Kabuto answered looking at her. Their exchanging glances lasted three more seconds of what was recommended considering the circumstances. Sasuke coughed a bit. Kabuto finally looked back to Sasuke. Aika bit her lip again and ran away.
After Aika had disappeared, Sasuke began to chuckle softly.
"That was pathetic! Seriously, those fuzzy-warm moments makes me mad."
"Shut up!" Kabuto replied with indignation." Should I say what you told to Sakura one year ago after you saved her life in that fight against two Sound chuunins? One of them survived and told me your whole conversation. How was it? It you were to die, I'd…"
"Grrr. Shut up!" Sasuke ordered blushing. He heaved a sigh "You know, after that scene, I feel bad about this fight. I almost fell like letting you go."
"Almost?" Kabuto wondered with a wider than usual grin.
"Almost" Sasuke confirmed with the same grin.
They looked at each other. One leaf dropped from a tree and landed in the shore. It was at that moment that both shinobis sprinted against each other. They simultaneously tried to kick each other in the face. Their legs met halfway and both of them felt their own was breaking up. They didn't stop. Sasuke tried to pierce Kabuto, who hit Sasuke's wrist in a precise point, making him drop the first wakizashi. Sasuke jumped backwards and he managed to kick Kabuto in the face. Holding one wakizashi they tried to stab each other. Their weapons met. Both of them tried to shove, applying chakra to overwhelm their opponent. After exactly thirteen seconds Sasuke pushed forward his own body, deflecting Kabuto's wakizashi with his own. Kabuto didn't have time to anything against Sasuke's quickly approaching fist but quickly concentrating chakra on his own fist and trying to strike Sasuke first
Both fists impacted at the same instant. The chakra gathered was too much for both of them to stand firm as they were knocked down more than thirty meters from each other.
Sasuke tried to rise but failed. He chuckled. Kabuto was also laughing after trying to stand up and falling to his knees. He spit a fallen tooth.
"Second round?" Sasuke invited between laughs. His only eye that he could open was shining.
Kabuto had to bite his lip, which only added to the blood already falling. He could fell his blood was boiling and he was feeling the need to rip Sasuke to pieces. However he wasn't authorized to do it. If they kept fighting either Sasuke was going to die or he was going to die. Both ways he lost and Orochimaru got angry.
"I…" Kabuto tried to get up and failed again. "I think we should stop, Sasuke-kun. We would end up destroying the bridge if we keep fighting."
"So? Why should I…" Sasuke managed to stand up, even if his legs were wavering "care about this bridge?"
"Don't act like the villain! This bridge is very important for the survival of Wave Country. It represents their unified hope. Bridges are a symbol of unity and technical advancement. People died to make this connection reality. Not to mention…" In Kabuto's face appeared again a friendly smile "that this bridge is called Naruto."
Sasuke stood dumbfounded.
"You think…" Sasuke started to say while holding the laugh. "You think that just because this bridge has the same name as a stupid idiot who didn't follow my direct orders of running away, I'm going to let you go."
"That's right."
Sasuke burst out laughing. After a few seconds he sat down.
"You win. Get out of here" Sasuke ordered.
Kabuto got a little closer to Sasuke.
"You killed my pals of the Sound. You deserve a little reward." He commented throwing Sasuke a pill.
"What is this?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.
"That pill will let you enter the second stage of Orochimaru's curse. It will give you power beyond your wildest dreams."
Sasuke looked suspiciously at the pill. It looked too good to be true.
"There is just a little catch. If you are alone, your body won't be able to cope with the changes and you will probably die. Actually, you have around once chance out of a million of surviving" Kabuto continued. He smiled at Sasuke and started to leave.
Sasuke looked at the leaving Kabuto. This time he knew Kabuto was saying the truth.
"Kabuto… Are you really loyal to Orochimaru?"
"Of course I am." Kabuto answered without stopping. This time Sasuke had no idea if Kabuto was saying the truth or not. Why would he give him that pill? Kabuto was really annoying. He couldn't read the Sound shinobi at all.
"Kabuto. One of us will probably kill the other sooner or later, but" Sasuke smiled, and for the first time in the whole day, it was an honest smile "in our next life we could be friends."
Kabuto didn't say anything. He only smiled back, and this time it was an honest smile too.
Sasuke waited till Kabuto left. Only then he looked at the pill. He was running out of time. His addiction to the combat pills had actually gotten out of control when he wasn't paying attention. He was almost out of them. He could last a week… if he stretched them to the limit. Afterwards the cold turkey was going to leave him totally undefended against hunter-nins from the Leaf and the enemy shinobis from Sound, if he didn't die from hunger or thirst first, of course.
He put the pill in his pocket. It was an interesting choice. A very interesting choice. But for the moment he had a lot of training to do.
He was an avenger, after all.
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OMAKE
"…in our next life we could be friends."
Kabuto turned around
"Are you totally stupid?" He yelled "We are trying to kill each other. How can we be friends? Hell, when somebody beats somebody else to a pulp, normal people hold a grudge"
In that moment, out of nowhere and for no logical reason at all except to advance the plot, Gaara and Lee appeared while having a friendly chat
"You haven't been reading Naruto's manga." Sasuke observed.
"Shut up! I said normal people!" Kabuto yelled.
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Well, this is chapter 30. It has been a long time since I wrote the last chapter. I am sorry for the long wait, but I have been studying for the exams.
As a reward for your patience, I am giving you one chapter that I think it's quite good.
The chapter it's a fight between a good guy Sasuke and the bad guys, the Four Sound. It's obvious that Sasuke acted in self-defence. If he hadn't acted like that, he would have been attacked and kidnapped by his enemies. Then, why did we have a disturbing impression during the fight? (or at least that was my intention)
The only thing I did was totally change the point of view. I showed the point of view of the Sound Four and during the fight I never showed even once the point of view of Sasuke.I didn't want to show the typical "bad guys". I tried to show some three-dimensional enemies. Some of them are weak, some are stronger, they have families, they have relationships, they have a back history, they have human reactions, etc, etc. And yet, one of the two sides usually has to die.
I admit that Kabuto is one of my favourite characters. He is not only strong but very cunning.
Finally, from now on I am going to write some funny omakes at the end of the chapters to create some laughs in the middle of the drama/tragedy
By the way, I want to thank all the reviewers, but please write a little longer reviews. Two or three lines, if you don't mind. That way I can see what people want and people's suggestion to improve my writing. Constructive criticism is the golden word ;)
Thank you very much