Chapter 61: Sasuke is beaten without a chance
"Ehhhh~?!" Naruto exclaimed as his shoulders slumped, a little annoyed and discouraged. Sai and Sakura were beside him, while Yamato was a few steps ahead.
"Do I really have to go, Tsunade Obaa-chan?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms.
"Naruto! We just received some important information from Jiraiya-sama!" Sakura yelled, annoyed. "This is an opportunity to find Sasuke-kun."
Tsunade looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, curious about the blond's reasons for not going on the mission.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" she decided to ask. "I thought you might want to get Sasuke back."
"Erm..." Naruto hesitated for a few seconds. "Well, yes... but I also have a life, you know. I'm not going to spend every second of it thinking about Sasuke. Besides, I have a date with Hinata-chan,"
Naruto said, surprising everyone, well, except Sai. Then, he approached Tsunade, really close, and...
"Then please, Onee-sama! Won't you let me stay?!"
"I like that way of—..."
"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Kuhum..." Tsunade coughed a little, blushing at almost falling for Naruto's words.
"No means no, Naruto."
"Tch."
"Brat!" Tsunade growled as she heard the blond click his tongue.
"So... What do I have to do if we run into the duck neck? Do I destroy it? Break its legs before dragging it back to the village?"
Tsunade's eyebrow twitched slightly. "Just... bring him in if you can."
. . .
"Sorry, Hinata-chan," Naruto apologized as he bowed his head. Since learning a few things from Rias, he wasn't so dense about things related to love anymore. And, even though he wasn't completely in love with Hinata, feelings of love were slowly emerging.
Only recently did he realize how amazing Hinata was... compared to Sakura.
"No... worry, Naruto-kun," Hinata smiled slightly. "It's a mission Tsunade-sama gave you, you have to go. Besides, we can see each other after the mission, right?"
Naruto blinked before smiling forcefully.
"Yeah, you're right..."
"By the way, you hardly stutter anymore. It's good, because your voice is really nice!"
Hinata's flawless face exploded red at Naruto's praise.
"N– No… I… well…" she began to stutter once more as she shifted in embarrassment and looked down at the ground. The big smile on her face, however, seemed impossible to erase. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the sight of Hinata like that. However, he ended up sighing when he saw Sakura looking at him from up ahead, along with the rest of the team.
"See you later, Hinata-chan," Naruto approached and kissed the girl's cheek before jumping forward and running across the rooftops, leaving a blushing and surprised Hinata struggling to keep from fainting.
"Since when have you been dating Hinata?" Sakura asked, but more out of curiosity than anything else. Yamato also seemed a little interested to hear as they left the village and began to run through the trees.
"Hmm… Maybe dating is still too soon," Naruto replied. "But we've gotten to know each other more these past few weeks."
"Dating?" Sai asked, showing curiosity, much to the team's surprise. "Is that a term for two people who are in love?"
"I read in a book that to 'date,' people have to be attracted to each other. In some cases, it's because of looks; in others, it's because of the other person's personality traits."
"I see..." Sai seemed to come to an understanding, his gaze deep in his. "Naruto... Do you like s-..."
Sai stopped abruptly when he felt a tremendous killing intent coming from Naruto. When he looked ahead, he saw Naruto glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, his light blue eyes turning as cold as two pieces of ice.
"I can be kind, Sai. But sometimes, I can be less forgiving than Sakura... Next time, watch your words."
Sai nodded, but he didn't understand Naruto's anger. Well, it was something else to think about and understand, that's what Sai thought at that moment. However, he also discovered a new feeling...
Fear.
It's been a long time since he'd felt fear, and he didn't think Naruto would make him feel that way.
Yamato frowned slightly. That kind of killing intent shouldn't be possible, not unless he's already killed people. And, according to the reports he'd received before becoming captain of Team 7, Naruto hadn't killed anyone. He was a little puzzled by this.
And as for Sakura, she felt strange. Naruto had changed since he left for his training. It wasn't that he was bad; he was much more mature and serious, but he still maintained that side of him that could be both adorable and annoying at the same time. He even had his airheaded moments, but not as much as before.
It was a little strange to see the new sides of his friend.
. . .
"Guys... we have to split up. This place is like a maze," Yamato frowned as he looked at the beginning of Orochimaru's lair.
"Dude... Are you crazy?" Naruto asked with a bit of surprise.
"What?" Yamato frowned at him.
Naruto sighed briefly before looking ahead and raising his right hand; holding up two fingers, he made a hand seal.
"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," he muttered, forming more than twenty clones who began running forward, checking every door they found.
"There could be traps, and splitting up would only leave us at a disadvantage," Naruto smiled before moving forward. Yamato slapped his face with a palm, annoyed at having forgotten something like shadow clones. Having been so attentive to Orochimaru had made him forget some important things.
. . .
"Kukuku..." Orochimaru laughed as he stood up from a stone seat. But, without realizing it, his right hand moved to his opposite limb, tightly gripping his arm, as if he could still feel his limbs being severed.
Sasuke, with an impassive expression, looked toward the entrance to the room, noticing several blonds stumbling into the room. They all looked ahead, all talking at the same time.
"A..."
With just that, a little surprised by what it was like to find Sasuke and Orochimaru, they glowed brightly.
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at this; Orochimaru was also slightly surprised; he knew what that glow was.
"Sasuke!" he shouted as he leaped toward the ceiling.
"Nn..." Sasuke muttered as he followed his master. But at that moment, all the clones exploded with force, decimating the walls and ceiling of the room. The floor, along with the entire lair, shook from the force of twenty exploding clones.
A few meters from the room, Team 7 stopped for a moment upon hearing the explosion.
"Ah... my clones found them," Naruto immediately ran out.
"What was that explosion?!" Sakura asked.
"My clones... I gave them the order to explode when they found Orochimaru. Well, he was with Sasuke."
"Idiot! You could have killed him!" Sakura yelled angrily. Natuso just rolled his eyes at that.
"If that were the case, then all the time Orochimaru spent training him wouldn't have been worth it. Damn it, even if Orochimaru is a damn demented idiot, he's still a former sannin and has a wealth of experience and knowledge!" Naruto snorted, slightly annoyed.
"If Sasuke can't even grow a little with him, then there's no point in him thinking about killing his brother... he'd just end up maimed at Itachi's first move." Naruto had already seen Itachi's strength back then when he was attacked by him and Kisame. Furthermore, he asked Jiraiya how strong the man was.
"We're coming," Yamato said, seeing the collapsed entrance.
"I'll open it!" Sakura exclaimed before leaping forward, hitting the large pieces of stone that fell from the explosion. Then, as they entered, they saw a huge hole in the ceiling, the sky visible alongside two figures standing looking down.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said in surprise as she looked at Sasuke.
"No... Why are you surprised? We knew he'd be here," Naruto commented.
"Whiskers are right, broad forehead, we knew it," Sai nodded in agreement.
Sasuke frowned slightly at Sai before shifting his gaze to Naruto, speaking coldly.
"Is he my replacement?"
"You're right," Naruto nodded. "He can cooperate better. Plus, he has these techniques he can use by drawing. Mm... in my opinion, much better than the Sharingan. I mean, besides the hard work you can steal with your pink eyes? What else can they do?"
"Ah... sure, you have Genjutsu, but it's not that hard to fight against," Naruto raised his hands and shrugged. "Simply put, a much better teammate, even if he's lacking in social skills... though that didn't change much, huh?"
Sasuke's black eyes turned red, with three tomoe slowly spinning coldly. He disappeared from his position, his sword extended.
"Where the hell are you pointing?"
"!" Sasuke shifted his eyes to the left, where Naruto now stood. Sasuke had planned to appear on Naruto's right, his sword pointed at his neck while staring closely into his eyes to use his eyes to enter his mindscape. However, he hadn't expected Naruto to appear on the other side.
"Too slow..." Naruto rolled his eyes as he reached out and grabbed Sasuke's neck before lifting him up and slamming him hard into the ground.
Bang!
"Gah!" Sasuke spat out a bit of blood as his back collided, creating cracks in the ground.
Orochimaru frowned and shot hundreds of snakes from his hand. But a wooden wall appeared in front of Naruto. Yamato had protected him. The former sannin frowned. He had already lost Kabuto; he couldn't lose Sasuke.
"Is this all, Sasuke?" Naruto looked at him in disappointment.
Sasuke was enraged at that look; it was almost like looking his brother in the eye. His Sharingan spun furiously as blue lightning began to emanate from his body.
Naruto kicked him at that moment, sending him flying into the wall behind Sasuke.
The Uchiha wiped the blood from his mouth as he glared at Naruto with murderous intent. His sword, Kusanagi, began to glow with blue lightning before leaping toward Naruto. Naruto sighed and unleashed his Tantou, surrounding it with wind chakra, easily blocking the sword strike.
At that moment, Naruto unleashed his Supreme King's Haki, causing Sasuke to tremble for a second. That was all the blond needed to swing his Tantou and deflect the Kusanagi sword before slamming his fist into Sasuke's face.
A hidden clone appeared behind Sasuke, placing a seal on his back.
"Ah... I'll have to thank Ero-sannin for teaching me some seals."
"What... did you do to me... Naruto?" Sasuke couldn't help but ask, gritting his teeth in fury.
"I just sealed your chakra, idiot. Now you're coming with us."
"Brat!!!" Orochimaru couldn't hold back any longer. For the first time, he showed fury as he left a clone behind and approached Naruto.
"Don't you remember what happened last time, Orochimaru?" Naruto gave him an annoyed look. Naruto appeared directly in front of Orochimaru as a wind-shrouded Rasengan appeared in his right hand.
The Rasengan struck Orochimaru square in the center of his chest, breaking his skin and causing his bones to shatter. Blood exploded from the former sannin's mouth, and he was thrown backward, his arms twisting from the power of the technique, which he received without a chance to dodge.
Naruto took Sasuke over his left shoulder and looked at Orochimaru, pointing at him with an unextended finger.
"I told you last time: stay calm and let us, the younger ones, solve our problems. Your generation has passed, and your wind has died out. This is the last chance I'm giving you."
"Next time... I'll kill you outright; I won't even give you the chance to properly reincarnate, so I'll destroy you." Naruto created three clones at that moment, taking his teammates and captain with him while using his celestial steps, leaping into the sky, leaving large explosions and shockwaves behind him.
He was running through the sky!
"You can fly?!" Yamato exclaimed in surprise. "But you couldn't put me on your back!... This position is..."
Yamato groaned at being carried like a princess.
"Don't complain, Yamato-taicho. I don't want to waste time traveling so slowly to Konoha. The mission is over, we have Sasuke, and there's no need to keep fighting."
"How cruel you are..." Kurama's voice sounded from within him.
"..." Naruto remained silent, but Kurama continued speaking.
"Ma~... It's not that I don't approve; in fact, you could say he deserves it," Kurama smiled. He knew what was happening with Orochimaru these days. Naruto asked Jiraiya many questions during training. He took advantage of the opportunity to extract as much information as possible. And one of them was that Orochimaru needed to switch bodies quickly, or he might actually end up dying.
Naruto not only fatally struck him twice, but also ruined his plans both times. Now that he had little time for the body swap, having lost twice to someone younger than him, and being furious, perhaps he might hesitate. Not only that, but impatience would quickly set in. Orochimaru would definitely make moves that would make him more visible on the surface now that he needed a body.
In short, he was now upset and suffering; at the same time, it would be easier for Jiraiya to discover his movements.
Well, Naruto hadn't planned this, though. Despite becoming more mature and intelligent, he didn't have the cunning to make such complicated plans to stay several steps ahead of the enemy. He simply wanted to annoy Orochimaru and Sasuke.
"Naruto... I swear... I'll kill you..." Sasuke snarled, helpless, over Naruto's shoulder.
"I didn't know the Sharingan also had the power to make its wielders dream while they were awake... What a surprise!"
____________________________