27 Chapter 26 (1/2)
It was day two of our S-class mission near the Fire Country's border. We were chasing an Oto-nin that wreaked havoc on one of the country's satellite villages. Our suspect, Abe Ginzo, a Jounin class rogue nin from Takigakure who joined Orochimaru's brethren on the siege was a hard man to track down. That was saying something as Kakashi-sensei and I who were considered to be the top dojutsu masters in Konoha for the moment chasing him and still, the man was proven to be elusive. Luckily for us, he slipped up and as it turned out, he could phase through matter, solid and liquid but of course such technique required an immense chakra to keep it active. It was just before he emerged, he had immobilized my sensei with a poison-tipped kunai and Ginzo fled the scene almost immediately.
”I'll be fine! Carry on with the mission,” Kakashi-sensei ordered me. I was going to ignore him and treat the man's wound but Torune suddenly appeared and helped my sensei instead. I was disappointed by his sudden appearance.
”Monkey-san, you had specific orders that involved, not to follow me around,” I scolded the man.
”Forgive us, Hikari-sama. We are responsible for your safety,” Torune countered. ”If you wait any longer, your target will evade you, sir.”
”Come, Hikari-sama!” Sai shouted from above. He was riding on his ninja beast drawn by his jutsu. I wasted no time at all by jumping up onto the said beast. When I was seated, we immediately flew towards the fleeing man. When Abe Ginzo was in sight, I hastily jumped down from the bird trying to headbutt the man off but I was met with rock hard ground. Debris was flying everywhere and when I stood up from my reckless fall, Ginzo emerged from the ground.
”Who the hell does that?! Are you a moron?!” Ginzo yelled at me. He was wearing a black jumpsuit with the Oto headband on his forehead, on his back was a large scythe that was caked in dried blood. He was panting heavily which was a sign that he was running out of chakra.
”A moron that can see that you are running out of chakra,” I retorted, coughing as I took my Juken stance. The man withdrew the scythe and brandished it at me.
”Don't underestimate me, brat! I am not those weak Orochimaru-sama's lackeys,” Ginzo was mad, he charged at me whilst swinging that big scythe of his. I'll admit that he was one step above the snake's minions, he was fast with the big, heavy scythe and as a result, my chest was slashed by it. Blood was dripping down my body but he had committed the worst mistake by coming this close to me.
”Now, who's underestimating who?” I gritted as I took the secret technique's stance. ”Hakke Rokujyuyonsho.”
This time, I had managed to hit every single Tenketsu on his body and sixty four fists later, he was sent flying towards a boulder. The boulder then smashed into smithereens and buried him in a pile of rock and ashes. Sai had dispersed his beast and jumped down before he kneeled before me.
”As expected from the Konoha Red Oni. That was reckless, Director Hikari. Here, take this, its a soldier pill,” he said as he withdrew a bottle from his robe and threw it to me. I took a pill and I could feel that my energy returning and my wound had stopped bleeding. Torune suddenly appeared from nowhere carrying Kakashi-sensei who looked much better than before. My sensei sighed desperately.
”Ah, being saved by a ROOT, maybe my days are numbered,” he said in mocked despair. I shot him an irritated look because he was mocking my friends.
”Kakashi-sensei, be nice! They risked themselves helping our incompetent asses,” I said and he let out his patented chuckle to dismiss my words. Torune left my sensei to himself and went to assess our target's condition. I decided to help my sensei stood up on his feet.
”Hikari-sama, this man is dead. We could seal him in a scroll for easy transport back to Konoha,” Torune announced from the rubble as he withdrew a scroll from his robe. I was taken aback by how he said to words with so much ease but my sensei clapped his hand once to disrupt my train of thoughts.
”That's the ROOT for you, they always had something up their sleeves. Thanks, guys, we're counting on you!” Kakashi-sensei was ecstatic.
”I guess, my first S-Class as a jounin is a success,” I mumbled and then I dusted off my clothing which was caked in dirt and blood. There was nothing I could do about the slash mark and I hoped that the administration could issue me a new vest when I return. After a few minutes of recuperation, the body was sealed and we immediately rushed back to Konoha.
*
At the Hokage's office, Tsunade-senpai had delivered the most disturbing news to date.
”What did you say?” Kakashi-sensei was in for a huge shock. ”So, only five rookies went to get Sasuke?”
”There was no other choice, given the situation of the village, we've hit the necessary minimum,” the Hokage explained. That uneasiness was then skyrocketed and instinctively, my sage mode was turned on to search for my dear, dear friends. Half of them were in the hands of the Medical Corp and another half was missing from my perception. I could saw that Chouji and Neji were in critical condition. Naturally, I gripped my fist too hard and it was bleeding. Some of the Jounin forces had already come back before us but they were late to come to my friends' aid.
”I can't stand here and wait. I'm going,” I said before I fled towards the gate at full speed and Tsunade-senpai didn't even have the chance to stop me at all. It was near the gate when I had pinpointed my two teammates and I rushed towards them with all I had because they were seriously fighting each other.
From my Byakugan, I could see that their chakras were being expelled like crazy. Naruto was clad in a cloak of red chakra while Sasuke's body was deformed and I sensed that he was drawing in natural energy. I deduced that the cursed seal had enabled him to be in this state and also, Sasuke's Sharingan had achieved the complete stage as sensei did. They were holding their Chidori and Rasengan, ready to attack each other.
”Please make it in time!” I gritted and the Rinne-Sharingan opened involuntarily. Distracted by it, I didn't realize that they had already clashed. The blinding light had obscured my vision but I summoned whatever strength I had left towards my feet and increase my speed to no avail. When I had arrived there, Naruto had fallen unconscious. My heart fell, thinking of the worst.
”Please don't be dead,” I recited those words like a mantra. When I was beside Naruto, I could see that he had suffered severe chakra exhaustion and a large -already healing hole could be seen on his body from Sasuke's Chidori. Speaking of that heartless boy, I searched for him and found that he was walking alone passed the fire country's border. In haste, I ran towards him.
”Are you here to bring me back?” Sasuke said as he gripped his left shoulder noticing my presence.
”Why, why do this to your friends?” I gritted. He looked at me in the eyes and it was opaque, the light I once saw had faded away. He was too far down this path.
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”I'm weak,” he said. ”To kill that man, I have to kill my friend, to kill Itachi, I have to kill Naruto. But I couldn't.”
”This is never the way, Sasuke. You'll hurt us, you'll hurt Sakura” I pleaded because I knew that deep down, he did care for her. There was no answer from him.
”If you go down this path, you will lose yourself.”.
”I will live solely to kill that man and resurrect my clan whatever means necessary. If you drag me back, I would do this again and again until I kill him,” he glared at me with so much hate that I couldn't help but pity him. Inwardly, I cursed Itachi for leading him into this life. The Uchihas were no doubt a pain in the ass. Sasuke was too far consumed in hate that I couldn't do anything for him. He would kill Itachi someday.