Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Reflection of Oneself ❯ Resolution ( Chapter 11 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The Reflection of Oneself

Chapter 11: Resolution

Fear.

We fear what we do not understand. People have died senselessly for thousands of generations because of our irrational beliefs of what is different. We live in terror that the bogyman that lives under our beds many one day decided that the time for hiding under the bed is over.

We are haunted by the desire to know everything and yet we are alarmed when we do. Once we know everything and the fundamental boundaries of physical and the metaphysical are torn down, there is no hope. And why is that?

It seems that our fears are what keeps the world in balance. Once things are thrown out of whack, we flail around like fish out of water - succumbing to the curse that comes with being far too smart for your own good.

He was frozen, unable to move.

What a time to freeze up too, especially when some slightly demonic pre-teen beastie is descending upon you. It was in that moment that Sasuke truly knew fear. The sight of the transformed blonde before him, he could see that the boy was a terrible sight, wicked and unstoppable as his violet eyes mirroring the insatiable bloodlust that raged within.

It was a fear unlike anything he had previously experienced, adding a whole new palette of colors to his world of black, white and red. It was like it had been pieced together from the intimate scattered puzzle of his youth, joining the memories of being hunted by rabid fangirls and the torture he had injured at Itachi's hands - watching the slaughter of his clan over and over again.

Spellbound, Sasuke found himself unable to move as the beastly boy leaped at him, seemingly floating through the air is if held by wires or the world around him was cast in slow motion. He watched, the thundering of his own heart the only sound he could hear. But the world returned to him quickly enough, brought back to him in a roaring wave of speed as a set of razor sharp claws tore deeply into the flesh of his left bicep, mobility restored to him.

`Kisama! He was fast before the curse seal - now he's super charged!'

Spinning away from his curse seal crazed student, the raven-haired Uchiha pressed a hand over his wound, putting pressure over it to stop the rich crimson blood that flowed from the jagged lacerations and stained the whole length of his arm red.

He cursed inwardly, forming a hastily built chakra shield, in which Nanikato collided with, the boy's claws and volatile purple chakra fighting to break.

`What the hell am I suppose to do?' he screamed mentally, forcing more chakra into solidifying the shield as he was driven back by the ferocity of Nanikato's primal attacks. All his instincts were screaming at him to use his own curse seal, but he beat them back. `He's not going to give up until he's dead…'

His question was far from answered as the shield cracked, shattering in a wave of light that only momentarily blinded his attacker. Sasuke then began evading another series of mindless animalistic assaults.

“Get back here you worthless scab!” the beast hissed. “I want to taste your blood!”

The curse seal had driven him crazy and it would be oblivious for anyone to tell that Nanikato was no longer control of himself anymore, obeying his most predatorily instincts.

Sasuke could still remember what it was like when he had awoken up after being bitten, the first level activated. It was like being drunk on power, unable to hold back his more violent tendencies as he had attacked that Oto genin known as Zaku. He hadn't been thinking strait, but he was still there within his mind, all morals and common sense thrown to the wind.

But for Nanikato, it was different. The boy had become a mindless monster and he wasn't sure if it had to do with Orochimaru's influence or if it was the nature of the beast left over from Kyuubi. But he knew it had created something like a different personality for the blonde haired boy.

“Running is futile! I will burn the world to ashes!”

The howl brought the Uchiha out of his musings and alerted the raven-haired man to the presence of approaching people. The enormous killing intent, the immense spike of chakra and the sounds of destruction must have caused them to come running, believing that they could do something to stop it.

Throwing himself towards the still open door, Sasuke slammed it shut, strengthening it chakra to make it unbreakable. He could hear people yelling on the other side, feeling Tayuya' chakra presence.

He cursed.

That foulmouthed harpy would only make things harder, so he allowed a layer of chakra to cover the room in order to keep the redhead from warping in. That didn't stop her from pummeling on it with her own chakra, however.

Turning back to his (hopefully temporary) enemy, he knew there was only one way to fight him and only one way that was sure to stop him. Focusing once more on his chakra, he channeled it down his arms and preformed the hand seals in sync.

“Sen'eitajashu!”

He didn't know why, but he felt that strangely familiar thrill rush through him as the snakes burst out of his sleeves. The Hidden Shadow Many Snake Hand had also been one of his favorite jutsus. At the same moment the crazed Nanikato spotted the oncoming `missiles', jumping into the air and twisting acrobatically, his own hands performing seals as the mass of snakes bit deeply into his arms, legs and side.

“Tatsumaki Kisoku!”

`Shimata!'

As the whirlwind was released from the blonde's mouth, lifting them and almost ever object in the small room into the air, Sasuke remembered the jutsu that Nanikato had taken pride in inventing only two and half months ago. It spun them around like a child's toy top, whipping them with icy winds and hitting them with any loose object that just so happened to flashing past.

“Are you having fun yet!?” the beast yelled at him through the din, tarring the fangs of the snakes out of him.“Well if you aren't, we're only just getting started!”

“Who the hell are you!?”

It was the first time the Uchiha even thought of asking the question.

The beastly boy shot him a deadly smirked. “Everyone has their dark sides. You can thank Orochimaru for `waking' me up!”

Then before Sasuke could do a thing, the indoor twister came to an abrupt stop. He dropped to the floor like a dead weight and unfortunately for him directly on top of his wounded arm. He let out shout of pain, the sound of his own heart pounding in his temples. Gritting his teeth, instinct finally won over and resorting to using that one something he wouldn't have done otherwise

He activated his curse seal.

The blonde beast stopped, watching in fascinated silence as the black flame began to cover the raven-haired man's pale skin. He received a fanged smirk as a reward.

“And here I thought you weren't going to be any fun at all”

Seconds later they clashed, smashing into more hospital equipment. As the pair continued to fight, Sasuke was vaguely aware of the sound of the door being smashed open. But he paid it no mind - he had to get his student back.

The scent of blood, coppery and acidic filled the air like a sweet fragrance, permeating the area with it `delicate' aroma. Using all his speed, the older man twisted, grabbing the boy by one arm and wrenching it roughly behind his back. The crazed preteen cried out trying to slash at him with his one free hand, only succeeding in having that one snatched up at well.

Struggling fiercely, the boy dropped to the floor, taking the now crimson-eyed Uchiha down with him. They grapple viciously, in which the elder of the pair received a well-placed elbow to the throat. Sasuke gagged, letting his guard down for only a moment - the moment that gave the blonde a change to gain the upper hand.

“Caught you!” the beast hissed triumphantly, pinning him to the floor. “I'm going to enjoy tasting your blood!”

He raised a clawed hand, preparing to claw open Sasuke throat when.

“Don't think so fucker!”

The blonde froze, inches away from strike the dead blow upon him when music suddenly filled room.

It was a soft harmony, pure and sweet. It tickled the senses, dulling the nerves and instilling peace upon the raging beast. Sasuke watched as Nanikato stiffened, then go limp like he was made of rubber or was a puppet that had just had its strings cut. The markings of the curse seal finally began to recede, drawing back to their focal point on the back of the pre-teen neck. It was soon followed by his fangs and claws, the sharpened blades shrinking to their natural forms, and his eyes, once more becoming a calm sapphire that the raven-haired man was used to.

As soon as there was no more of the seal's chakra to supply him, he crumpled, collapsing like a rag doll on top of the wounded Uchiha, stunned and exhausted. Struggling to push the boy off of him, Sasuke cocked his head to the side, feeling almost dizzy from the music himself.

Standing just inside of the now busted door was Tayuya, her eyes closed as she preformed her piece of music.

“Eika no Yasashii” she said as she finished, moving the flute away from her lips. She opened her eyes and glared at him. “I knew you were a stupid mother-fucker Uchiha, but I didn't know you were that stupid. Thought that you can take care of the whole situation by yourself, your ego knowing no bounds while the gaki nearly killed you”

Sasuke remained silent.

As the red haired woman growled, entering the room and gazed down at her handiwork. She was even `kind' enough to gave him a hand in lifting up the stunned blonde due to his wounds and placed the boy down on the now battered bed.

He winced faintly as the slash marks on his arm began to throb; the shock that had kept the initial pain away began to fade.

“So, you managed to subdue Nanikato-kun? Sasuke, Tayuya”

The pair turned, identical looks to distain blooming across their features. But while the look vanished for Sasuke, replaced by cold indifference, it only got worse for Tayuya, becoming one of absolute loathing.

Kabuto entered the room, a smug look on his face. It wasn't a secret that both adults hated the older man with a fiery passion, wanting nothing more then to kill him where he stood. But as Orochimaru's right-hand man and Otogakure's head medic, the gray haired traitor was off limits, not to mention they both owed him minor debts since he was the one that was normally in charge of over their healing.

As if on cue, the medic-nin tutted softly, surveying the damage done to the room.

“Looks like a tornado ransacked the place” he mused, fingering his chin.

Tayuya snorted rudely. “Nice of you to state the obvious faggot” she muttered darkly.

Kabuto frowned, casting her a reproachful look. She flipped him the bird in defiant retaliation

“Such a shame though,” the man sighed. “There was some new and rather expensive equipment in this room…”

“Do you mind?”

With a nod, Kabuto moved over to Nanikato's bedside and preformed a diagnostic scan of the boy. It didn't take longer then two minutes, most of which he took to heal the minor bruises and snakebites.

“Well, he appears to be just fine considering that he's suffering from mild mental and physical drain. I'm surprised at how good his condition is seeing that pervious chakra exhaustion and receiving Orochimaru-sama's curse seal left him in a six day coma”

Sasuke growled. “About that…”

“Don't blame me, I'm just the messenger. Now give me your arm”

The raven haired Uchiha conceded, holding out his arm and looking away from Kabuto. As the older man's healing chakra seeped into his wounds, he began to feel a pins and needles sensation spread throughout the whole length of his arms to his fingertips. Looking back at his arm, he watched as the green glow worked to knit the torn muscles and flash, leaving nothing more then a row of red puckered scars.

He could live with that.

What he couldn't live with was the sound of Nanikato starting to cry, the memories of his moment of madness rushing back to him. Sitting down next to the bed, he did his bed to calm the hysterically sobbing child, hating himself more then anything.

He vowed at that moment that he would he get Nanikato out of Oto, no matter the risk.

-.ooOoo.-

One Week Later:

“Are we there yet?”

“No Lee. There's like ten more miles, so stop asking!”

It had been just over two weeks since they had left Konoha. All it had its pitfalls, Shikamaru's strategy for getting them into Otogakure without much trouble had been ingenious. The young Hokage had suggested that the four-man team disguise themselves as a wealthy merchant couple and their accompanying guards.

Acting as the merchant couple, Neji and Tenten played the part superbly.

With the Hyuuga's naturally regal features, Neji had no trouble pretending to be some upper-class merchant. Clad in a beige hakama with bronze trim, he had concealed his Byakugan with dark blue contacts and the seal on his forehead with a white sash, one that wrapped around his head and was braided into his waist length indigo hair. As for Tenten, she managed perfectly due to her exotic beauty. Once she was out of her normal shinobi attire and into the formal dress of an upper-class lady, she was nothing less then exquisite. Clad in a burgundy kimono with pale pink obi, she had opted to change her hairstyle by letting out of the double buns and braiding it into a single bun held by a pair of ornamental chopsticks. She also wore a pair of pale amber contacts.

Acting the pair of the merchant's personal guard, Iruka and Lee were forced to make an even bigger change.

For Iruka, his facial scar was his largest defining feature. He would have had to cover it with makeup if it wasn't for Sakura. The young medic-nin had devised an experimental procedure that acted like a long-term genjutsu, tricking the body into `erasing' scars for a period of up to three - four months. For Lee, his eyes were a big giveaway since few people possessed such beady peepers. He took care of that problem by borrowing some sunglasses from Shino. Both mean opted to wear the same outfit, dark green haori and brown pants with a pair of katana at their sides for show. They also changed their hairstyles - Lee wore his scraggly black hair in a low ponytail and Iruka wore his hair down, framing his face.

All together, the quartet looked very change; almost so indistinguishable that their friends wouldn't have known it was them.

It had been a few hours since they last time anyone had asked how much closer they were to their destination. It seemed like they would never get there and it was only due to sheer for of willpower that their nerves didn't become shot from all the stress. Tenten was in the middle of complaining, causing poor Neji to procure a headache worse then some Main House Hyuuga activating his seal.

“I feel too… naked” Tenten whined, fidgeting in her seat in the horse drawn carriage they procured for the mission.

Neji sighed, crossing his arms as he gave his fiancée a critical look. “Tenten, how could you feel naked? That kimono of yours has an arsenal of concealed weapons hidden within”

The brunette glared at him.

“We excuuuuuuse me” she snapped. “I just don't fell comfortable without at least ten summoning scrolls with me at all times.”

Outside the carriage, Lee and Iruka listened to the `lovebirds' bicker. The young man was snickering quietly to himself, remembering all the funny incidents his teammates had gotten into together over that last going on fourteen years. The older man was rolling his eyes, remained of the pathetic things all his former students had done over the years.

Thinking of such things, he fondly recalled a certain memory back when he was only twenty-one. It involved an eight-year-old Naruto, a laxative potion and a bottle of superglue. The industrious little blonde had decided to pull a prank on the class ahead of him, coincidentally the one that Neji, Tenten and Lee had belonged too. He only wondered vaguely if the trio even remembered that day, but he knew he forever would.

It had been during one of the hottest days of the summers, the ones in which all the students would complain about being too hot until their poor sensei, with frayed nerves, finally used an air conditioning jutsu. The class that Naruto had been a part of hadn't been an exception, but rather then get cool, the chuunin teaching them had blacked out from heatstroke.

While no one had been looking, one mischievous little blonde troublemaker had slipped in and out of the class unnoticed. The only indication that something was amiss came half an hour later. While all the other classes were able to escape the aftermath the closed confines of the stuffy academy, one class couldn't. It was then that is was discovered while that class had been out for target practice, Naruto had slipped in an covered their seats with super glue, the kind only interrogators like Ibiki used, and had contaminated their room's water with laxatives.

Since the room was so warm, it kept the glue from drying until the students it was intended for came back. Hot and sweaty, all the children had grabbed a drink of water and didn't even notice the difference when seated themselves. But ten minutes later, twenty-seven nine-year-old children and one sensei would find themselves needing to take a crap badly, unable to move because they had become almost permanently bonded with their seats.

It had taken the rest of the academy teachers, himself include, four more hours to get everyone freed. They had been gagging the whole time. As it were, it was poor end to a shitty day. The academy had been closed for a week after that due to the fact that the heat was making it hard for the stench of so many people shitting themselves to disperse.

He chuckled, unable to hold the bubble of laughter back.

Lee looked at him, shocked, as did Neji and Tenten.

“Ryo for thoughts Iruka-sensei” Lee asked, smiling.

Iruka smirked. “Oh, only a shitty memory - one that I'm sure you should all remember too”

A frown crossed Neji face then, and then a look of disgust as the Hyuuga was clearly remembering the exact same thing. The indigo haired man shuddered, fidgeting just like Tenten had only moments earlier. Iruka laughed again.

“Its not funny” Neji hissed. “That day was horrible!”

Tenten nodded in agreement, remembering for herself.

“Oh but it was and I… I have Naruto to thank for that `precious' moment”

Although bad memories had been brought back, the fact that Naruto had orchestrated the whole thing caused the pair to sober up. It caused them to remember what had happened before the incident, in which a group of ten bullies had beaten him badly, the others just standing around to watch it happen. They hadn't helped him at all, and so Naruto had pranked them all severely for revenge.

“We're here…”

They then finally found themselves approaching their destination. The massive walls surrounded the village of Otogakure loomed before them, great towers that reached towards the skies could be seen from within.

All four gazed at the kanji for sound emblazoned on the mighty gates, welcoming to friends and a warning for enemies.

“Yes,” Iruka sighed. “We are…”

`I promise Naruto… that I will find a way make sure that your death wasn't in vain'

-.ooOoo.-

Translations/Original Jutsu

Tatsumaki Kisoku/Tornado's Breath - mid C-rank ninjutsu. This technique was created by Nanikato during his five months of training. It allows the user to channel a massive vortex of wind out their mouth, which causes everything to spin as if caught in the middle of a real tornado. Has a range of up to one hundred feet and can be very devastating when used into closed in spaces.

Eika no Yasashii/Song of Calming - low C-rank genjutsu. This technique, preformed in various methods with instrument or voice, causes all people within ten feet to become docile and stunned. Can be fought off however, if a person is particularly strong willed.