A/N: EDIT: writing, while sick, the lack of feedback really hurts...T_T
maybe I should just end the story...
Spooky season update is a go. Short chapter is short. Sorry, I'm overworked and overstressed T_T
it doesn't help that the manga finally ended.. Writing this chapter, and feeling all the more hollow for it as a result.
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
As ever, I own no quotes, references, quotes, themes or memes! They're simply tributes to legends far, far, FAR greater than little 'ol me. I'm just an old man who writes as a pastime. I don't make any money doing this, not a single cent. This is ALL done for free. Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Hope you enjoy.
In other news, I had Disposal Unit (Imperium Mix) blaring in my ears while writing it.
And ohhhhh does it show. You'll see what I mean.
"RIP. AND TEAR. UNTIL IT IS DONE."
~?
Throw Hands
Naruto's blood sang.
His ears were roaring, his pulse pounding as he reared back, took a fist to the face, hooked three fingers into a claw, and slashed his adversary's eye to bits. By the time his arm swung back around, the wound was already healed. A dozen cuts eviscerated his own face in that same instant, only for him to recover just as quickly, conjure a rasengan to his palm and ram it down his foe's stomach.
The attack thrust a cackling Sukuna away from him and sent him smashing down into the water, where Naruto followed up with a stomp, trying to crush his head.
All this? Less than instant. Barely a second.
Rather than retreat, the King of Curses, rolled aside and seized him by the thigh; the moment he did, that leg ceased to exist below the knee. Momentarily unbalanced, he allowed himself to topple forward and moved with it and whirled, driving that kneecap into his hated foe's nose.
It popped like an overripe grape, spattering him with blood.
By the time he'd completed his revolution, the limb had already regrown; he used the newly reformed leg to plant a heel in Sukuna's ribs and launch him away across the water. He raced after him, only for a savage slice in the air to ring out, forcing him to abandon his charge and tumble aside. It was but a moment's reprieve, little more than a a sliver of a second.
It was enough.
"More!" Sukuna righted himself with a low growl of animalistic delight, bloody teeth gleaming in the mire of Itadori's soul. "Put more cursed energy into your limbs when you strike me!"
"Do you think this is a game?!
The madman belted out a laugh and lunged at him. "What else would it be?!"
Naruto swayed aside from another torrent of slashes, caught his right wrist, tore his arm clean off st the shoulder, and brutally beat him to death with it. Once. Twice. Thrice. He stove in his head with the last blow, only for Sukuna to kick him away and get right back up, wounds already healing.
"That's much better!" he reached up and dug the limb out of his head, already growing another. "I can actually feel that!"
He snarled and waded in after him.
Gimme a minute...
Time meant precious little here. They were waging war within Yuuji Itadori's soul-such was immutable. It could've been days, hours, minutes. It was likely the latter; he'd been thrashing Sukuna for what felt like the better part of an hour now, and he hoped his host couldn't feel any of this.
That pure, good boy, didn't deserve to have the roots of a curse like this tangled up in him.
He'd set him free, if it was the last thing he did.
Such was the nature of his Curse.
While he was distracted, Sukuna vaulted overhead and landed behind him. He spun and swung at him, only for the King of Curses to duck low. An open hand pressed against the small of his exposed back, followed by a single command.
"Cleave."
A torrent of savage slashes bloomed between his shoulders; it hurt, but the pain did little more than center him. Rather than retreat, he drove an elbow backward and was rewarded with a satisfying crunch. Sukuna made a bemused noise, only for the air to twist and yank him inward, delivering him unto a crushing roundhouse.
Staggering back, he broke, then reset his jaw. "What did you just do?"
Not telling him. He'd figure it out soon enough, anyway. "I told you I would make you hurt.
"Fool of a boy. I'm only at a fourth of my power and you're already struggling. What will you do when I acquire all of my fingers?"
"Hit you harder."
"Cocky little shit, aren't you-
He was still speaking when Naruto blitzed him.
Lungs. Kidneys. Stomach. Liver. Heart. Four quick punches for each of present his four finger strength; each one blasted great gaping holes through his torso, each left him reeling like a drunkard at last call. From there, he swept his legs and sent him sprawling down into the murky water. From there he stabbed down with four of his nine tails, skewering his limbs.
Unsatisfied, he used them to hoist him up, seized him, hefted him high by his robe and headbutted him for good measure.
...were you under the impression I was actually trying?"
"Not bad. But can you survive this, I wonder?" Sukuna sneered and placed both hands together, all but tearing his arms open. "Domain Expansion."
A chill down down Naruto's spine.
"MALEVOLENT SHRINE."
The world went red.
All. Bloody. Red.
His body buckled for a moment as countless slash savaged him from head to toe, ripping him apart.
Anyone else -bar the baffling Gojo Satoru himself- would've died outright.
Not him.
His reserves flared and he regenerated instantaneously to strike forward at Sukuna's skull, forcing the accursed king to break his stance and catch both his fist lest he be obliterated outright. Forcing a grapple, he planted his feet and strained against him, forcing him back one step, now two, three...four...!
Behind him, the Domain fizzled out spectacularly as he found himself forced to focus his attention solely upon him.
And yet for some reason, Sukuna's face split in a shit eating grin. "That's the way. You're thinking like a curse now, not a human, because you wish to win, because you want victory, because you crave triumph. But killing me won't bring back everyone you lost...
Hate.
He planted his feet and lashed out with his crimson cursed tails, slashing into Sukuna, stripping more strength form him.
His adversary glimpsed the fire in his eyes and barked a laugh. "There it is. You don't just hate me, you despise me, don't you? You want to crush me. Good. Your hate makes you strong. Unleash it! Reject your humanity! You don't need it!
His fist swung back.
"Careful now, wouldn't want to harm the brat.
He'll live.
…why did his right hand hurt so much all of a sudden?
He looked down and found his fist buried in Sukuna's gut, punching clean through his torso. The king of curses doubled over, gripped his shoulders, and grinned at him through bloody teeth. Even when he was losing, that divine arrogance did not falter. For a moment he saw Yuji's face overlaid across his own.
Naruto saw red.
He lost control, there was no other word for it; he barely understood what his cursed energy was, much less a domain expansion but he had no need to; they were irrelevant to him. So long as he kept his word, so long as he could fight and that was good...right?
.
..
...
He raised his fists and waded in.
Sukuna met him with a feral grin, arms raised.
From there they traded blows not as humans, but curses.
He swept a hand forward, parried an unseen slash and drove a fist into his foe's ribs, cracking them, hammering down to whale on him, uncaring of the wounds he received in return. He'd gradually grown accustomed to Cleave and Dismantle, or perhaps his "body" had simply adapted. Maybe Sukuna simply wasn't all that strong yet. By his own admission, he lacked three-fourths of his proper power.
In the end, it didn't matter.
He saw an opening and took it to wrestle him down; it cost him his right eye, but that grew back sooner enough. From there, he stomped onto the chest of his fellow curse, pinning the King of Curses to the ground. Given time, he could've fought his way free, maybe even won the day.
Naruto didn't give him that time; instead, he conjured a snarling Rasenshruiken to his right hand.
With a roar of triumph, he brought it crashing down at Sukuna's head!
"LETS SEE YOU SURVIVE THIS ONE!"
"Aaaand that's enough!"
A spectral hand reached through the ether of Itadori's soul, seized his shoulder and bailed him backward shredding the mental link. In an instant he found himself ripped right out of Yuji's soul. He felt the moment the link between them snapped, and all but howled his fur. He'd been so close just now, terribly, horrible close...
He rounded on the culprit with a snarl. Why'd you stop me?! I was gonna kill him!
Gojo Satoru jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards the prone form of one Itadori Yuji.
The poor boy was bleeding from both the nose and his eyes, even his ears, sprawled out on the floor in an insensate heap. Megumi and Nobara were fussing over their friend, altnerating between his wounds and shooting furious glares his way, neither of which looked particularly present at th emoment.
Ah, crap...
"Don't worry," Gojo patted his back, mistake his sorrow for fury. "We''ll get him to Shoko and get him fixed up."
A muscle jumped in Naruto's jaw, pounding furiously. "I could've finished this, you know."
"Maaaaybe so, but you would've put my adorable little student in danger."
For such a reason at that?! He'd lost his best chance to kill Sukuna.
Bastard would be on guard now, the opportunity might ever come again.
But he couldn't lash out, not here, not now.
There was only one thing for it.
He stormed off.
A/N: And there we have it. A taste of what's to come.
Hopefully, someone, somewhere, enjoyed this. I just don't know anymore these days. If folks don't enjoy it, I'll likely drop it.
Do you want this to remain a story? Yes? No? Maybe so? Make yourselves heard!
Really need to hear from you, here.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this particular story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself isn't popular? Well...I'll not continue it. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy.
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot write. So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly? Hope you enjoy the previews.
We've got some new ones and some are...intense.
They've been expanded and then some!
I cut down on them to not spoil things.
Read at your own risk:
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
SPOILERS AWAIT YOU!
YE BE WARNED!
(Previews AND SPOILERS AHOY~! Lets see if you get this reference~!)
Naruto walked.
Well, shuffled, really.
He didn't know where he was going. What he was doing.
Find a family, Kokichi had said. Easier said than done. But he would try.
By sheer chance, he would find his own way into Shibuya.
Just as all hell broke lose.
"Promise?"
Nobara jolted, alarmed to find Naruto's face inches from hers.
"You want to keep your promise, even after all this time." His hand patted her head as no one hand since she was small. "Good girl. You live."
Nobara blinked. "Ha?"
His peace said, the curse walked past her.
"Oi!" she fumbled for her hammer. "Get back here! I was gonna exorcise you!"
He just kept walking. She launched a nail at the back of his head, only for him to walk around the corner. Her nail wedged itself in a stop sign -where his head had been a second ago!- with an audible clang. In hindsight, she should've taken that sign as...well, a sign, and let bygones be bygones.
Her right eye began to twitch. Oh, hell no. No way in hell was she being ignored!
"I AIN'T DONE WITH YOU!"
Her ax whistled in at his face.
He saw it coming this time and swayed aside, giving ground steadily, almost lazily-until a crow slammed into his back and blew off his shoulder alongside a good portion of his torso and ribs besides. It should have killed him. Instead he growled...and before her very eyes, the wound mended itself in an instant.
His right hand flicked out, clawed fingers clenching. "That hurt...
Mei Mei frowned. "Oh, dear."
Then he was on her.
R ~!