The Boy in the Park
Chapter Forty-Three
"SASUKE!" that scream made him still at the border with the land of Rice Fields, atop the head of Madara Uchiha.
He turned, expecting to see Naruko standing on the other side of the chasm, on the head of Hashirama Senju.
He hadn't expected her covered in a red cloak charging at merely a millimetre from his face with a fist ready to slam home.
Sasuke barely managed to activate his sharingan in time to dodge, but when the fist continued its path and cracked the ground…he swallowed.
"Naruko!" he exclaimed, jumping back.
"You…" Naruko hissed, clenching her hands. "You're running away," she added. "You…I would have brought you back…I'm your friend, you're my teammate, one of my precious bonds…" she snarled…the ground around her began to crack. "But…But what you did…that's something…"
Her eyes shone crimson.
"I can't forgive."
He dodged the incoming blur of crimson as he shot himself in the water, where Naruko soon followed creating a giant splash. He barely brought up his right arm to parry a blow from his side that Naruko spun and delivered a kick to his ribs, which sent him flying in mid-air.
"Aniki did nothing to you!" she hissed, tears prickling down her eyes. "WHY DID YOU TRY TO KILL HIM!?"
He coughed out blood as he wobbled back on his feet.
"Try?" he croaked, "Can you feel it? This pain? This agony? This is what I feel, only worse…you can't understand…I should have killed him, then…then you would have."
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE TEME! You lost your family —I get that! But you can't take mine away! I won't let you! I'll bring you back to Konoha with broken arms if I have to, and when I do I'm gonna make sure you're punished for what you did! I'm not going to lose any of my bonds if I can prevent it!"
Sasuke smirked. "You don't understand…then again…he still lives," the Uchiha murmured. "How about I return, Naruko?"
Her chakra cloak fluttered for a moment. "Uh?"
"Yes, I'll come back to Konoha. I'll be the perfect shinobi…and then, one day, I will walk up to your precious Aniki's house and I will slice his throat from side to side and let him die like a gutted fish!"
Naruko's eyes widened for a brief instant, as the air itself seemed to still at such a declaration.
Sasuke wanted to kill her Aniki. Sasuke...Sasuke had to die. It was simple. Really. It was really simple. She was going to kill him.
No, no...she couldn't kill him. She'd make him suffer. Yes. She'd make him feel pain, like her Aniki was in...but she wasn't going to kill him.
"I won't let you," Naruko murmured, her chakra blazing furiously as she took a step forward, the ground quaking and splintering apart. "I won't let anyone do that. Aniki's precious to me, why can't you see that? Why do you have to say that? I'll rip apart your hands then, I'll rip your legs from your body. I'll pluck out your eyes, smash your teeth…and I'll bring you back to Konoha anyway."
Sasuke morphed as his cursed seal evolved to its second level, giant hands resembling wings sprouted from his back.
"See? That pain, that hurt, that anger…that is what guides me, only tenfold! To lose someone hurts! To have revenge, I'll go to Orochimaru. He'll give me power! Enough power to defeat and kill that man!"
"I KNOW THAT IT HURTS!" Naruko screamed. "I lost Jiji! Aniki's one of the few I have left, and he's in the hospital BECAUSE OF YOU!" she ground her teeth. "You think it's easy, to forgive you?"
"What?" Sasuke blinked.
"You think it's easy, to forgive you for what you did?" Naruko muttered. "But…Aniki's isn't dead. You can still repent and then, then we can go to eat ramen together, all of us. I'll make sure Aniki doesn't get too mad about you, and he'll forgive you. He forgives me a lot, and then…then he can be your Aniki too! I mean…We could be sib—"
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Sasuke's hand shot down, burning fury coursing through his veins. The Chidori formed with a sharp screaming noise. "I have only one brother! ONE I MUST KILL!"
"AND I HAVE ONLY ONE BROTHER TOO! ONE I MUST PROTECT, DATTEBAYO!"
Naruko's rasengan formed in her hand.
The next moment, they both clashed one against the other.
The two techniques tore at each other with rampant hatred and anger, as Naruko ground her teeth and ploughed forward with all the strength she could muster.
"What'cha doing?" she had expected to be scorned…when she hadn't, she felt happy.
"Hey! Want to play with me, mistah?" he said no, but then again he did not leave.
"Can ya push'me on the swings please?" he said yes, and that was the first time anyone pushed her on a swing.
"We had brawling lessons!" that was the first time anyone cared to patch her bruises…she kept the Band-Aid for an entire week after that.
She ground her teeth and screamed as she pushed her rasengan forth, forcing Sasuke's own to retreat.
Tears prickled down her eyes, vaporized by the crimson cloak a moment later.
"If you want, you can sign these and I'll become your guardian henceforth."
"I understand you're scared, but…I'm really not going to end up anywhere, Naruko. Just trust me on this, can't you believe in me, like I believe in you?"
"Must you always cry when I give you a birthday gift? Really?"
"To be abandoned, to be left alone…to feel as if nobody wants you and everyone just pities or mocks you for what you are. You think I'd let anyone else suffer through that?"
The rasengan tore apart the Chidori, and the next instant…Sasuke ducked, barely avoiding the attack that destroyed his right wing and sent him to slam against the nearby wall of the valley.
"Aniki's…" Naruko muttered. "Aniki has always, always, always been there for me," she clenched her fists so hard blood began to drip on the water. "What you did…I can forgive you…but I can't forget it," she took a step forward.
"So I'll bring you back to Konoha," she muttered, wobbling on her feet. "And I'll make sure you get your dues. Then…then I don't care if I have to break your spine, but you'll apologize to my brother. You'll apologize to everyone you hurt. And then…then if you want, we'll talk with your brother together…I…Maybe my Aniki isn't my real brother by blood but…but he's precious all the same and if…if the bond we have is the same other share then…then I'm sure we can bring your brother back to Konoha too!"
When the dust settled, and the vision cleared…
Sasuke was no longer in the hole against the side of the valley.
He had run away. The coward had run away from her.
Naruko felt all her anger, all her rage, simply disappear as she fell backwards in the water. She gasped for air as she looked up at the sky.
"Fine…I…" she croaked, feeling extremely weak as she floated there. "When I find you, Teme, next time, I…"
She closed her eyes.
I will snap your spine…
Dattebayo.
Author's notes
No lethal wound for Naruko.
As said before, I'm not changing 'much'. (Hinata wasn't grievously injured by Neji for example)
Because everything must hold fluff and happiness.
Even breaking Sasuke's spine later on.