Chapter 127: A Failed Rivalry
Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 127: A Failed Rivalry
Sakura stared in horror as Sasuke aimed his deadliest jutsu at his other teammate.
Naruto, however, was observing it with interest. This was the first time he'd seen the Chidori up close, and he noticed its similarities to the Rasengan.
He watched closely, fascinated by how the chakra moved around Sasuke's hand without severely burning him. Something that he could really learn from, considering what happened the last time he tried to add an element to his jutsu.
'I wish I had a pair of those special eyes to analyze this more closely…' he lamented. Still, even with his normal eyes, he could learn something just from observing.
"Naruto! You better use your own jutsu, or you'll die!" Sasuke warned, his voice edged with frustration. He had been waiting to compare his Chidori to Naruto's Rasengan ever since he saw him use it against Gaara, especially after learning it was created by the Fourth Hokage.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the threat.
"You want me to use the Rasengan… or I'll die?" A smile crept onto his face. "Come on…" He had to try hard to avoid laughing as that would make things worse.
Sasuke clenched his teeth and prepared to move. "I'm serious!"
Naruto gestured with his hand. "Go ahead. Show me how serious you are."
"Sasuke!" Sakura's screams were ignored.
Sasuke snapped and charged at an impressive speed. In an instant, he was right in front of Naruto, the lightning in his hand crackling loudly.
"Chidori!" He aimed directly at Naruto's chest.
As amusing as Sasuke himself was, the jutsu was no joke. The amount of lightning chakra concentrated in Sasuke's hand made it clear to Naruto that if he allowed the attack to land, it would pierce through his defenses and leave a gaping hole in his torso.
However, this attack had a glaring flaw Naruto had already noticed when he first saw it. Due to the sheer intensity of the jutsu and the speed Sasuke had to maintain, it forced him to attack in a very linear, straightforward manner.
Naruto twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the lightning, and grabbed Sasuke's forearm.
Without allowing Sasuke to lose momentum, Naruto used all of his energy and redirected it, sending him flying for the third time.
Sasuke's Chidori collided with the metal water tank mounted on one corner of the rooftop.
His hand became buried in the structure just before the lightning chakra lost its form, causing an explosion that tore the top of the tank apart and sent water splashing everywhere.
Sasuke pulled his arm out of the remains, glaring at Naruto.
"Looks like I'm still alive," Naruto commented.
Sasuke's jaw was clenched so tightly that everyone could hear his teeth grinding.
"You… you…!" At that moment, Sasuke finally realized why Naruto irritated him so much. He reminded him of his brother.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun faster as his rage intensified. Just the thought of that man was enough to drive him mad.
For a moment, the image of Itachi overlapped with Naruto.
"Ahhh!" Sasuke screamed.
"Sasuke…" Sakura watched him with growing concern. "What's happening to him?"
Naruto noticed something strange as well. A dark mist was rising from Sasuke's neck.
The black-haired boy seemed to be in some kind of trance, his body visibly changing as he screamed in both pain and fury.
Before anything worse could happen, Kakashi appeared out of nowhere and struck the back of Sasuke's head, knocking him out instantly.
"Sensei!" Sakura said in relief.
Kakashi caught Sasuke and lowered him to the ground, inspecting his neck.
"Was that the curse seal?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi's expression turned serious. "I'm afraid so…"
"Wait, what? I thought you solved that problem," Sakura said, confused.
"I placed a seal around it to prevent the curse mark from influencing Sasuke, but… I can't stop him completely from using it if he really wants to."
"No… Sasuke would never do that! He knows how dangerous it is!" Sakura said desperately.
"Then you don't know him at all," Naruto commented coldly. "He's desperate for power and will do whatever it takes to get it."
Sakura snapped at him. "This is your fault! Why did you have to push him so far?"
"Excuse me? Should I have just let him kill me?" Naruto's patience was wearing thin.
"He wouldn't have done that if you didn't provoke him!" Sakura shouted.
"Sakura, that's enough," Kakashi said in a stern tone.
"But Sensei—" she protested, her voice faltering.
"No… this isn't Naruto's fault." Kakashi shook his head.
"If you want to blame someone, blame me. I should have intervened sooner."
"You were watching the whole time?" Naruto asked, surprised. He hadn't sensed Kakashi's presence at all, though that wasn't much of a surprise.
Kakashi nodded.
"Sensei?... Why?" Sakura didn't understand.
Kakashi's expression was troubled. "I thought it might help Sasuke… maybe give him some perspective." He glanced at Naruto.
Kakashi had hoped that having a rival close in age could motivate Sasuke in a healthier way, pushing him to grow stronger without being consumed by the need to kill his brother.
He had hoped Naruto could be that rival. But now, seeing how effortlessly Naruto had handled Sasuke, Kakashi realized his mistake.
Minato's son had far exceeded his expectations. In such a short time, Naruto had surpassed all of his peers, to the point where handling Sasuke was almost effortless.
Kakashi now wondered just how close Naruto was to catching up to him… or how long it would take before the blonde surpassed him.
But his focus shifted back to Sasuke.
'What am I going to do with you?...' For the first time in a long while, Kakashi felt truly conflicted.
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