Chapter 1317: 22
Teammates
"As all of you have being informed, Uchiha Sasuke left the village last night around midnight. There are no clues as to where he might be headed and an official statement of the reasons behind his actions has yet to be made." Shikamaru said in an uncharacteristically serious tone as he regarded the group in front of him with equally solemn eyes.
A snorting sound escaped Kiba. "Great! The one day that they close the gates late and that idiot picks it to run away from home…" The Inuzuka whined. "Just our luck!" He added, receiving a bark of agreement from Akamaru who lied on top of his head.
Besides the brown haired boy, a particularly pensive Neji stood. "Sasuke had just being released from the hospital, so I doubt that he could have gotten very far in only ten hours with his condition." He pointed out.
The Nara nodded at the older boy's words. "Yes, that is why the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade-sama, has allowed the formation of this four man team in order to search for Sasuke and return him here." Shikamaru's eyes move towards the spiky haired blond who had yet to say a word. "No matter what, we will bring Sasuke back!" The usually languid shinobi firmly said, his voice filled with determination as he tried to assure his silent friend.
Naruto's hands were already hurting due to the force he was using to tighten his fist. "Goddammit Sasuke…!" The boy's mind raged. "What the hell were you thinking?" He thought as he gritted his teeth.
"Knowing how the Uchiha are, he probably wasn't thinking at all." Kyuubi commented with a hint of amusement.
A frown formed on the Jinchuuriki's face at his tenant's words. "Not now, you damn fox…" The blond said with as much disdain as he could manage.
The anger in the Sharingan user's voice sent the Bijuu into a fit of laughter. "Hahah… That's some intimidating temper you have there, it almost make you seem fit to be my host."
It seemed as though blood was going to star running down Naruto's hands at any moment as his fist tightened. "I told you to shut it, Kyuubi! I will deal with your bullshit some other day, but now…" The genin's train of thought suddenly stopped.
As though a switch was turned, the patronizing tone completely disappeared from the fox's voice and was replaced by a more serious, yet understanding one. "All of this just because of her, huh?" The Bijuu commented.
Naruto simply remained silent as his eyes drifted towards the ground.
"You can try to ignore me all you want, but I now everything that is going on in your head and your heart." Kyuubi stated with an almost solemn voice. "You have being restless ever since you found out and I know for a fact that the cause is not that your little teammate ran away, but because of how much his departure has hurt her…"
A sigh escaped the Jinchuuriki as the weight of his tenant's words piled on top of him, but the young shinobi still refuse to respond to any of the fox's comment. Yet, despite himself, Naruto's mind drifted back to a couple of hours prior.
Flashback
The urgent knocks on the door echoed through his apartment once again, with no sign of letting out soon.
Sluggishly, Naruto forced his body out of his bedroom in direction towards the door. The young shinobi cursed in a tired breath. After spending most of the previous day training until late at night, the blond had planned on sleeping in this morning and worry about hitting the training field later in the day, or simply take the whole day off and hang out with Shikamaru and the others, the genin wasn't sure yet.
The increase in the knocks snapped the Sharingan user out of his thoughts, causing him to sigh. The blond swore under his breath that if once he opened the door he were to find Chouji wanting him as a partner for an eating competition again, he would look for all the potato chip bags that the Akimichi had thrown away in the past week and shove them down the boy's throat… Unless it was a ramen eating contest, in which case he would shove the potato chip bags from two weeks down his former classmate's throat for not telling him sooner.
On the other side of the door, the knocks were getting frantic.
"It must be a meat eating contest if he's this anxious…" The Jinchuuriki thought.
Suddenly, a chocked voice called out from outside the blonde's apartment. "Naruto…!"
It took a second for the young man to recognize the voice of the person that was about to leave a dent on his door and it took him less than a second to register the distraught tone that Sakura's call carried as it reach his ears, completely shaking the drowsiness off the spiky haired boy.
Rushing towards the door, the Leaf nin flung open the entrance of his apartment, startling the pink haired girl and making her take a step back. "Sakura, what's wrong?" Naruto immediately asked her as his eyes scanned her features, it was evident to the young shinobi that she had been crying.
"It's… It's Sasuke-kun…!" The kunoichi struggled to get out as the tears returned to her eyes.
The Jinchuuriki's eyes widened in alarm, not at the girl's words but at the fragile tone in which they were said. "What happened?" He asked, trying to be reassuring.
Sakura try to calm her nerves as her jade colored eyes stared into her teammate's sapphire ones. "Sasuke-kun… Last night he… He left the village!" She finally exclaimed.
"What?" Naruto shouted at the revelation. "What do you mean he left?" He questioned.
The pink haired girl seemed to recoil slightly at the blonde's outburst. "He… He umm…" The girl tripped over her own words. "I saw him walking through the park last night… And when… And when I asked him what he was doing there and…" She choked.
Acting on instinct, the spiky haired boy placed his hands on Sakura's shoulders. "It's alright…" He tried to appease the distraught girl. "Calm down and tell me what happened." The young man requested.
The kunoichi took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm her nerves. "I… I asked Sasuke-kun what he was doing walking through the park at such a late hour, especially after just being released from the hospital, but instead of answering my question, he… He started to apologize for all the trouble he has caused…" She informed.
Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion at his newly astray teammate's behavior.
"Then… He started saying that he didn't want to hurt either of us and…" The blond noticed that Sakura's lips started to quiver as she spoke. "He said that he needed to… Needed to leave the village before he did something terrible…" Naruto could already see what was coming next, but even if he had all the time in the world, there was nothing he could do to help his friend. "And then… And then he apologized before he…" Sakura crumbled at the moment, her body falling helplessly into her teammate's chest as tears ran freely down her cheeks.
He knew, the Jinchuuriki knew what had occurs without the girl telling him. All of these events that he was being informed on had happened last night, and if Sakura was just dealing with it meant that Sasuke had…
Pulling her head off the young man's chest, the pink haired kunoichi gazed at her teammate with tear stained eyes. "He knocked me out…! Sasuke-kun knocked me unconscious so that I couldn't do anything to stop him from leaving!" She exclaimed, her vice filled with desperation.
Not amount of preparation would have prevented Naruto from being left dumbfound and angry at the revelation.
"I… I woke up in a park bench this morning… And… And Sasuke-kun… He…!" The tears were causing the kunoichi's words to become incoherent. "Naruto… I don't know what to do…" She admitted as she looked pleadingly at the boy's sapphire eyes, searching for an answer to her cataclysmic problem.
Something seemed to snap within the blond, or perhaps something fell into place. A pair of shocked, azure eyes hardened as the boy's grip on the pink haired girl's shoulder strengthened. "Please calm down, Sakura." Naruto said, his voice carried a peculiar mix of force and understanding that Sakura found oddly comforting.
Finally managing to get her rampant tears under control, the kunoichi nodded at her teammate's request.
"Now…" The Jinchuuriki started again after seeing the girl in from of him regain some sort of control over her emotions. "You said that all of this happened last night, so Sasuke couldn't have gotten very far." The Sharingan user said as a way to reassure his teammate. "Kakashi-sensei is out on a mission so we cannot go to him, so I will go straight to the Hokage and inform her of the situation." He added.
Instead of the relief that Naruto thought his words would bring to his friend, Sakura's eyes widened in horror. "No!" She screamed. "You can't tell the Hokage! If you do, Sasuke-kun will get branded as a missing nin!" The kunoichi exclaimed on the verge of hysteria.
"Saskura… Sakura! Calm down…!" The spiky haired boy tried to get through to his teammate.
The pink haired girl simply shook her head. "No… No… No…" She repeated as she closed her eyes.
Naruto sighed and proceeded to take a deep breath. "Sakura!" The sudden outburst successfully stopped the girl's panic attack. "Sakura, I want you to listen to me." Sapphire eyes bored into emerald orbs. "No matter what happens, I will never let Sasuke become missing nin." Grip tightened while eyes narrowed. "I promise you, Sakura, with all my heart and soul, that I will bring him back to you." The young man vowed.
Astonished at her teammate's words, all that Sakura could do was nod like a small child.
Letting go of a heavy breath, the blond released the kunoichi's shoulder. "Now, I want you to come in and lie down so that you can calm your nerves while I go talk to the Hokage, ok?" He said.
The pink haired girl nodded once more and stepped into the Sharingan user's apartment.
The Jinchuuriki watched the still distraught girl disappear into his room before he turned around and stepped out of his apartment. Closing the door gently, Naruto swore under his breath, his fists were dying to punch something, but the young man managed to refrain himself and instead started off towards the Hokage's office.
End Flashback
Realizing that Shikamaru had begun talking once more snapped Naruto out of his memories.
"So those are the official terms of our mission…" The Nara informed as he regarded his newly appointed teammates. "Any questions?"
Instantly, Kiba's hand shot into the air, gaining the attention from the others. "Yeah… I want to know just how the hell they made you a chunin?" The Inuzuka inquired.
The appointed leader of the makeshift squad sighed. "I mean questions pertaining to our mission…" He said with a hint of annoyance.
The hooded boy brought his hands to the back of his head as a grin formed on his face. "What's there to ask about?" Kiba countered. "The mission is simple to understand, we're going to find Sasuke and then drag his sorry ass right back to the village." He said with overflowing confidence, receiving a bark of support from Akamaru.
The Inuzuka's words caused the word "Troublesome" to be uttered by Shikamaru, though it lacked any sign of annoyance, Neji shook his head in an attempt to fight off the tug he felt at the corner of his mouth, and Naruto looked up from the ground, the blonde's fist finally relaxing.
After releasing a sigh, the Nara decided to take back command of the team meeting. "Well, if everyone understands." The black haired boy addressed the group. "I want the three of you ready by the village entrance in forty-five minutes." The genins nodded. "I will say this once more, officially this is only a training exercise for the four of us, and so no one is to know about the true purpose of this mission, especially about Sasuke running away." Shikamaru stated, receiving one more sign of acknowledgement from his new teammates before the group broke apart.
"Sakura…?" Naruto called out as he opened the door to his apartment.
Immediately, the kunoichi sitting on the blonde's dinning table stood up and rushed to the Sharingan user's side. "Naruto! What happened? What did the Hokage say?" Sakura asked right away.
The spiky haired boy tried to put on the must comforting face he could muster. "It's alright Sakura, Tsunade-obaasan it's not going to brand Sasuke as a missing nin." Naruto assure the pink haired girl.
"So… So what are we going to do…?" The Haruno asked anxiously. "Sasuke-kun is still out there… Getting farther and farther away from the village and… And if he crosses the frontier of Fire Country…!"
The Jinchuuriki placed his hands on his teammate's shoulders once more. "Didn't I say that everything was fine?" He questioned and waited for the girl's emerald eyes to set firmly on him. "The Hokage has commissioned a search party for Sasuke." The young man announced.
Sakura tilted her head to the side. "A search party?"
Naruto nodded. "Yes, Shikamaru, Kiba, Hyuuga Neji, and me, we are setting out in half an hour." The blond informed.
A look of alarm took over the pink haired genin's face. "But you are all genins?" She exclaimed. "Isn't it dangerous to send all of you outside the walls of the village?"
Sighing, the Sharingan user tired to give his teammate a comforting smile. "You know how the village is right now… Almost all of the jounins and chunins are out on mission or supervising the reconstruction efforts." The spiky haired boy pointed out. "Besides, we are not all genins. Shikamaru was promoted to chunin recently, if you can believe that." Naruto attempted to joke, but the humor was lost on his still worried teammate. "Also, Tsunade-obaasan said that as soon as any of our jounin instructors returned, she will send them to help us." He added to calm the girl down.
The kunichi's still troubled eyes dropped to the apartment floor. "I guess is ok then…" She said, receiving a nod from the young man before he walked pass her and started to gather his gear. Sakura's eyes drifted carefully around the small apartment, despite having being there for a couple of hours, the girl had not taken the time to actually observe the place in which her teammate lived. Catching sight of a particular object, the kunoichi walked towards a small table were a small picture frame contained Naruto's copy of Team Seven's photo stood.
Looking over his shoulder, the blond saw his teammate gently caress the small picture.
"Do you think that we will ever be able to return to this…?" Sakura suddenly asked. "To how we were back then?"
Naruto remained quiet for a while. "We have all changed a lot since that picture was taken…" The spiky haired boy went back to silence.
Sakura picked the photo up and regarded her own smiling face, her teacher masked grin, and her teammates' aggravated looks that were depicted on the picture before hugging the small frame. "Naruto… I'm sorry." The pink haired girl said softly.
Slowly turning around, the blonde's eyes fixed on his teammate. "Why?" He questioned.
"That day on the bridge…" The young woman started as her eyes went back to the picture. "I should have said something, done something… Had I know that would be the last time that…" She choked.
The spiky haired boy's eyes narrowed. "Last time for what?" The Sharingan user asked with a hint of anger. "Last time I made a fool of myself in front of everyone?" He said with accusatory words.
The kunoichi shook her head fervently. "No…" She answered gently. "That was the last time I felt you emanate the warmth that until that day I had taken for granted." Sakura said as her eyes set on her teammate. "And I'm sorry I did nothing to help you protect it." She said before giving the spiky haired boy a small bow.
Naruto managed to keep his sight on the pink haired genin for a couple of seconds before turning around and returning to his gear. "You have nothing to apologize for…" He said with a defeated tone.
The two members of Team Seven remained silent for the next couple of minutes until the blonde's hand gripped the doorknob. "Naruto…" Sakura called out. "Please be careful."
The apartment door opened slowly. "You don't have to worry about me." The spiky haired boy said. "I told you that I will bring Sasuke back for you, and I will never back down from a promise." He added, catching his teammate off guard with an old familiar smile before setting off.
Shikamaru cleared his throat. "I am going to assign everyone's position and role, so pay attention because I do not want to repeat myself in five minutes when we leave the village… Kiba" The black haired boy accusingly said.
"Whatever…" The Inuzuka shrugged the chunin's words off.
After muttering "Troublesome" The Nara continued. "We will be moving in a line… First off are Kiba and Akamaru tracking Sasuke's scent, I will follow behind so that I will be a good position to give directions…"
"More like barking out orders." Kiba said as he leaned towards Neji. The Hyuuga simply nudged the hooded boy's attention back to their team leader.
"Naruto, I want you following behind me surveying our surroundings with your Sharingan and ready to spring into action in my command." The chunin said, receiving a nod of understanding from his former classmate."And Neji, you will be in the rear watching our backs with your Byakugan."
The Hyuuga acknowledged. "Consider it done."
Shikamaru nodded. "One more thing before we set out. We will be acting on the mindset that Sasuke has being traveling nonstop for the past twelve hours, so do not expect any five minute breaks during this mission since we will not be able to follow him pass the Fire Country borders." The seriousness in the Nara's eyes rivaled those of any veteran shinobi. "Now, I'm saying this not as a chunnin, not as your team leader, but as Nara Shikamaru, this is a mission that we cannot fail." The young man stated.
"Probably because otherwise Ino will be riding his ass for the next couple of years." The Inuzuka told Neji under his breath. "Though, now that I think about it, that's not such a bad idea." He added, receiving a far stronger push from the Hyuuga to snap his attention back.
Aware of his teammate's comment, the Nara shook his head. "No… It is because this is the first time we undertake a mission concerning someone we know, a comrade, a friend." He looked at each of his teammates. "If we fail and lose Sasuke, we will spend the next years unable to let this mission or our failure go." The chunin's words silenced the hooded boy.
"We will not have to worry about that." Neji interrupted. "Because you said it yourself, this is something in which we cannot fail. The way I see it, that only leaves one possible outcome for this mission." He pointed out.
Smirking at the Hyuuga's words, Shikamaru looked at Naruto, giving his blond friend a reassuring nod. "Well, if that is settled, let's go." The black haired shinobi said. "The sooner we catch up to Sasuke, the sooner we can beat some sense into him." He commented as the four Leaf nins crossed the village gate.
Sasuke panted with his back against a tree. How long had it being since he left the village? Just a couple of hours? Twelve hours? Or had it being days already since he committed the atrocity of knocking Sakura out before leaving Konohagakure?
All that the Uchiha was sure of was that it had being about an hour since he found himself in this predicament.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" A joking voice called out through the foliage of the forest.
Immediately, another voice was heard, this one several degrees angrier. "Goddamnit Kidomaru, just find that bastard already!" A female exclaimed. "Let's get this over with, I want to go back already!"
"No way!" The first voice whined. "I got all wound up thinking about breaking into Konoha once more and now we don't have to, so I have to find a way to spent this pent up energy before going back!" The man called Kidomaru proclaimed.
A new voice joined the other two. "You sound as if you are complaining about our good fortune." The third person said. This individual sound a lot calmer than his companions, but his voice still carried an air of superiority with it. "Days of planning and our target comes waltzing out of the protective walls of his village. Now we don't have to get into a pointless climatic battle in which Jirobo gets killed." The person commented.
The female voice laughed. "Well, if Kidomaru doesn't hurry out, fatso here is going to die of starvation anyways." She said, earning a laugh from the first voice.
"Very funny, Tayuya…" A deep fourth voice said sarcastically.
"Bite me, fat-ass!" The woman called Tayuya shouted.
Ignoring his female companion, the one they call Jirobo addressed someone else. "This is enough, do you not think so, Sakon?" He asked.
A sigh was heard before the owner of the third voice answered. "Yes, I guess it is…" He said. "Kidomaru, did you find him already?"
The hidden genin's eyes widened at those words and the amount of sweat running down his brow increased.
The first voice that had spoken up laughed. "Yeah… The idiot got too preoccupied listening to our banter that he forgot to keep moving!" He exclaimed.
Before Sasuke could react, the Sharingan user felt several spiders fall on top of his body. Shaking the small animals off, the raven haired boy tried to move to a new hiding place, but his actions came into a halt when a rather large man appeared in front of him. The next second, the Leaf nin's body was slammed against the trunk of a tree.
"Well, tag him and bag him, Kidomaru." The Uchiha heard as three people became visible among the trees. A pale, blue haired man, a redhead girl, and a tanned man with six arms.
The strangest of the group, the man with the six arms spoke up. "Damn, Jirobo, I hope the brat doesn't die before we get back." Sasuke recognize the voice as Kidomaru's.
"Not quite…" The blue haired man, Sakon, said as he watched their target get back on his feet.
Lifting a pair of a pair of Sharingan eyes, Sasuke glared at the large man in front of him. "What is it, you idiot?" Jirobo asked angrily as a smirk appeared on the raven haired genin's face. Feeling burning sensation in his upper body, the older shinobi only had time to look down and see an explosive tag attached to his chest before the piece of paper detonated.
The explosion echoed through the forest, sending debris in every direction.
Kidomaru whistled. "Ooh, it seems we have a fighter here." He commented.
Laugher erupted from the redhead. "Did you see fatty's face when he realized he had an explosive tag stuck on him? Priceless!" Tayuya mocked, earning a smirk from Sakon.
The fact that they took the reality that their teammate had just being blown to smithereens so lightly unnerved the Uchiha. The raven haired boy's fears were realized when he heard movement from the newly formed crater.
"You… Bastard…" Among all the dusk, Sasuke could see the large form of Jirobo standing up with no visible damage except for burned cloths. Suddenly, with a red glow, a strange triangular pattern spread through the large shinobi's body.
At the sight of the strange markings, the Sharingan user immediately knew the true nature of his situation. "Orochimaru…" The young man whispered.
"Bingo! You got it!" Kidomaru exclaimed. "He's a sharp one. Orochimaru-sama sure knows how to pick them." He commented to his other teammates.
Sakon took a step forward, his eyes settling on Sasuke. "Well, if you know who sent us, then you must know the reason for why we are here." He commented, receiving a glare from the genin. "So I will give you a choice… Either come willingly and fully accept the gift that Orochimaru-sama has bestowed upon you, or we will simply bit you up to an inch of your life and drag your broken body back with us." The blue haired man offered.
The Oto nin received his answer as the Sharingan user brought out a kunai and took a defensive pose.
"Oh well…" The apparent leader of the Sound squad muttered. "Kidomaru, take care of him." Sakon ordered.
The tanned man cracked three of his knuckles as a sign of acknowledgment, his eyes looking at Sasuke with a predatory delight.
"Wait!" Jirobo called out the moment his teammate took a step towards the younger shinobi. "This little prick ruined my shirt, I will be the one who teaches him a lesson." The large man announced. By then, his body was almost completely covered by the triangle pattern.
Before Kidomaru could complain, the largest member of the Sound team lunged towards the Uchiha.
Jumping up onto a tree, Sasuke could see the sizeable crater that his opponent's palm strike had left right where the genin had being standing.
Suddenly, several of the boulders created by the strike shot upwards in the direction of the raven haired boy. "Housenkan no Jutsu!" The genin called out before releasing a barrage of small fireballs to intercept the rocks. The two volleys disappeared into a cloud of dust and smoke.
Before the Uchiha could relax, Jirobo's form broke though the cloud, driving his shoulder into the genin's chest and sending him flying away. Sasuke was barely able to grab a hold of a tree branch to prevent himself from falling to the ground.
As the Sharingan user tried to pull himself up to the branch, the older shinobi appeared standing over him, and proceeded to smack the boy down towards the ground.
The young man had no time to think about the pain his body felt as the growing shadow over him warned him of the impending danger. Pushing his body to the side, the Leaf nin barely evaded Jirobo's feet as the older shinobi drove his own body into the ground. Taking the offensive before the large man could recover from his missed attack, Sasuke used one of the tree trunks as a platform and jumped towards his opponent, directing a spinning kick towards his head.
Catching the boy's kick, Jirobo effortlessly flung the raven haired genin away.
The Uchiha was able to spin his body in midair, planting his feet to the ground in an attempt to bring his body to a halt, but he was unable to do so before his back violently hit a tree. The force of the impact took away the young man's sight for a couple of seconds, but it returned soon enough to see the incoming Oto shinobi before he was brutally tackled. Sasuke could feel the trunk of the tree give away behind him due to the sheer force of Jirobo's assault.
"Well… I think this is over…" Kidomaru muttered disappointed as he watched the Sharingan user's body go through the tree and across the clearing like a rag doll. "Jirobo really took the brat to the cleaners." He commented.
Sakon was about to nod in response to his teammate's remark when an internal nudge brought his attention back to their target.
Slowly and struggling with every move, Sasuke forced himself back onto his feet.
"Is the prospect of serving Orochimaru-sama so unappealing to you that you would rather die than submit to him?" Jirobo asked his seemingly lifeless opponent as he prepared to continue his attack, but did not wait for any sort of answer. "Unfortunately, that decision is not up to you!" He exclaimed as he dashed towards the half dead genin.
In a quick and fluid moment, Sasuke jumped over the large Sound nin, successfully dodging the incoming attack, and gracefully landed behind the older shinobi.
As soon as his lunge failed, Jirobo tried to turn around to face his opponent, but his moves were suddenly hindered. "Are these… Are these wires?" The large man questioned as he found himself wrapped around a long metal wire that led right towards the Uchiha.
A smirk appeared on the young man's face as he turned around. "It never occurred to you that all this time you were walking into my trap?" Sasuke wondered through his teeth that clenched onto the metal wire.
"Why you little…" Jirobo grunted as the tried to rush towards the younger nin.
Skillfully, the Sharingan user's hand went through the series of necessary handseals. "Ryuuka no Jutsu!" He called out before a burst of flames in the shape of a dragon shot from the Leaf genin's mouth, ran through the metal wire, and hit the man from Sound with devastating force.
The explosion than ensue lighted the forest up.
After what ha happened with the explosive tag, Sasuke did not take his eyes off the large cloud of smoke and dust. "Damn you…" The young shinobi heard through the debris as a form resembling Jirobo's stood up amongst all the wreckage. "You… Bastard… You bastard…. You bastard!" The Uchiha's eyes widened as the large man in front of him started to change. The Sound nin's eyes darkened, his skin turned brownish red, and his hair grew longer. "I am going to destroy you!" Jirobo shouted.
Tayuya laughed from her position. "Hah! Fat-ass is on the fritz now." She remarked.
Smiling devilishly, Kidomaru addressed the Leaf genin. "Well, Sasuke-chan, you managed to get to the Boss Fight, don't choke on us now." The tanned man taunted.
Despite starring down a monstrous figure, the Uchiha's voice came out even and composed. "You think that I'm afraid of you?" He asked the entire group from Otogakure. "I have already gazed upon the eyes of a true monster." The young man announced as an image of a strange, wheel shape Sharingan flowed into his mind. "So none of you are able to scare me now!"
Jirobo snorted. "Strong words for a brat who's backed against a corner. You have guts boy, I will give you that…" The man commented. "But as long as you have that disgustingly defiant look on your face, you are useless to Orochimaru-sama, so I might as well rid you from this world! Doryou Dango!" The large enraged shinobi exclaimed as brought his hands to the ground and rip a colossal boulder from the earth itself, raising it over the Uchiha.
Sakon's eyes widened in alarm. "You are going overboard, you idiot!" He called out, but was ignore by his teammate.
Still, the raven haired boy remained unnerved at the sight of the gigantic lump of earth. "I left my teammates because I was weak…" The Uchiha muttered. "I wanted to become stronger before this hatred that is dwelling inside of me consumed me." The young man's hand started on a set of already familiar handseals. "And if I am ever to be to return to my friends, I cannot lose to the likes of you!" The Leaf nin stated as lighting sparked in his palm and covered most of his arm. "For my sake, for Team Seven's sake, I will defeat you!" A third coma appeared on each of Sasuke's Sharingan eyes.
Housekan no Jutsu – Mythical Fire Phoenix Jutsu
Ryuuka no Jutsu – Dragon Fire Jutsu (Anime Version)
Doryou Dango – Mausoleum Earth Dumpling
Lee – Sasuke-kun… That was so youthful…
Kisame – Itachi! He's crying now!
Itachi – Not anymore than you at the end of Jaws.
Kisame – I told you that in confidence!
Itachi – Which was your first mistake… Back to the story, firstly, if you look through the chapters, you will see that the name of Naruto's Sharingan has being changed.
Ksiame – Phoenixsun finally wuss out and changed Sukai Sharingan to Sora Sharingan.
Itachi – You never learn, do you…? Also, this chapter has changed a lot from its original concept.
Kisame – Yeah, it was suppose to focus more on fighting, instead of all that mushy stuff at the beginning.
Lee – I liked it, Naruto-kun did a great job comforting Sakura-chan… Though I kind of wish it would have being me…
Itachi – Anyways, since the next chapter will be composed of parts that were originally meant for this one, expect it to be shorter.
Lee – Especially with the nature of the upcoming chapters, we might not see a 5000+ update for a while.
Kisame – Itachi, how does he know about future chapters and I don't?
Itachi – Because unlike you, Lee doesn't fall asleep during staff meetings.
Lee – You talk in your sleep, Kisame-san… Are you still afraid of penguins?
Kisame – Grr… Why you little…!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone